HALL'S    BOOK    SHOP 

384-390    BOYLSTON    St. 

BOSTON.    MASS. 


BIRDS  OF  THE 
BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN 


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THE   SILVER   MAPLE 


BIRDS  OF  THE 
BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

^  i>ttt5p  in  Jilisratian 

BY 

HORACE  WINSLOW  WRIGHT 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

BRADFORD  TORREY 

AND 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


BOSTON  AND   NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

1909 


COPYRIGHT,  1909,    BY  HORACE  WINSLOW  WRIGHT 
ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  May  jqoq 


341065 

BOSTON    COLLEGE    UBRAKf, 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


TO  MY  SISTER 

WHOSE  AWAKENING   TO  THE  INTEREST  AND 
PLEASURE   OF   BIRD   OBSERVATION 

WAS    EARLIER   THAN   MY   OWN 

THIS    LITTLE  VOLUME   OF    RESULTS 

IS   AFFECTIONATELY 

INSCRIBED 


"  And  above,  in  the  light 
Of  the  star-lit  night, 
Swift  birds  of  passage  wing  their  flight 
Through  the  dewy  atmosphere." 

Longfellow 

Birds  of  Passage 


PREFACE 

My  little  book,  I  think,  will  readily  speak 
for  itself,  and,  therefore,  seems  to  need  no 
prefatory  word  from  the  author.  But  it 
is  pleasant  to  express  to  the  reader  how  in- 
teresting and  delightful  has  been  the  work, 
in  the  nature  of  pastime,  done  in  our  Public 
Garden  during  the  past  nine  seasons,  and 
how  agreeable  has  been  the  task  of  arrang- 
ing and  analyzing  the  notes  made  there. 
In  the  work  I  have  been  encouraged  and 
aided  by  many  friends.  Occasionally  the 
garden-circuit  has  been  made  with  eager 
young  ornithologists  who,  alert  and  sharp- 
eyed,  have  given  added  spirit  to  the  morn- 
ing's observation.  At  some  other  times  the 
companionship  has  been  with  those  who 
were  earnestly  bent  on  gathering  almost 
their  first  knowledge  of  birds  and  have 
joined  their  steps  with  mine  to  see  and  be- 
come acquainted  with  a  few  of  the  more 
common  visitants.   Again,  I  have  had  the 


X  PREFACE 

comradeship  of  friends  well  schooled  in  the 
field  of  ornithology,  who  have  been  wit- 
nesses with  me  of  some  rarer  migrant  war- 
bler or  sparrow.  All  of  this  companionship 
has  been  a  pleasant  aid  and  is  gratefully 
recalled. 

Those  who  have  assisted  me  while  I  have 
been  preparing  the  manuscript  of  this  vol- 
ume must  have  my  gratitude  expressed  to 
them  by  name.  To  Messrs.  Francis  H. 
Allen  and  William  Brewster  and  Dr. 
Charles  W.  Townsend  I  am  indebted  for 
valuable  suggestions.  Mr.  Glover  M.  Allen, 
secretary  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History,  has  guided  me  through  certain  dif- 
ficulties of  nomenclature  and  performed  for 
me  the  further  service  of  examining  the 
chronicled  records  of  other  observers.  Mr. 
F.  H.  Allen,  Mr.  Eugene  E.  Caduc,  Miss  Is- 
abel P.  George,  Mr.  John  H.  Hardy,  Jr.,  Dr. 
Manning  K.  Rand,  Mr.  Bradford  Torrey, 
and  Dr.  C.  W.  Townsend  have  contributed 
names  of  species  to  the  list,  which  otherwise 
it  would  have  lacked,  nine  names  in  all. 
These  fellow  observers,  and  Messrs.  G.  M. 


PREFACE  xi 

Allen,  Maurice  C.  Blake,  H.  A.  Purdie,  F. 
P.  Spalding,  and  others  have  furnished 
additional  information  concerning  certain 
species  already  listed,  which  is  duly  cred- 
ited to  them  respectively  in  the  notes  on 
those  species.  I  am  also  indebted  to  the 
*'  Ornithologist  and  Oologist,'*  to  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Brewster's  *'  Birds  of  the  Cambridge 
Region,"  to  Dr.  Townsend's  "  Birds  of 
Essex  County,"  to  Mr.  Bradford  Torrey's 
essay  "  On  Boston  Common,"  and  to  Mr. 
Justin  Winsor's  **  Memorial  History  of 
Boston"  for  quotations  which  have  been  in- 
corporated in  the  text. 

In  making  my  acknowledgments  I  can- 
not omit  the  name  of  one  other  who  was 
much  my  companion  in  the  earliest  years  of 
observation,  who  was  also  the  first  to  sug- 
gest to  me  the  writing  of  this  book,  and  by 
whose  loyal,  inspiring  friendship  the  flame 
was  kept  alive  by  which  the  end  has  been 
attained,  Mr.  Guy  Emerson  of  Cambridge. 

To  my  friend  Mr.  Bradford  Torrey  I  am 
peculiarly  indebted  for  his  generous  **  Intro- 
ductory Note"  and  for  the  pleasure  of  hav- 


xii  PREFACE 

ing  his  name  associated  with  my  own  in 
this  entire  story  of  migration  through  the 
Garden  and  the  Common,  the  bird-Hfe  of 
which  he  so  delightfully  set  forth  twenty- 
five  years  ago  in  his  book  of  essays  entitled 
**  Birds  in  the  Bush."  I  count  myself  happy 
in  the  association  of  our  names  as  past  and 
present  students  of  ornithology  within  this 
public  domain. 

The  illustrations  which  are  presented  in 
this  volume  are  from  photographs  obtained 
in  the  month  of  May  by  my  esteemed 
young  friend  Mr.  Gordon  Boit  Wellman. 
The  subjects  were  selected  as  illustrative 
of  the  composition  of  the  Garden,  but  with 
more  especial  reference  to  scenes  connected 
with  the  visits  of  some  of  the  rarer  individ- 
ual birds  or  of  collective  flocks. 

My  obligations  are  also  acknowledged 
to  the  Department  of  Public  Grounds  for 
information  furnished  and  courtesies  ex- 
tended by  its  superintendent  and  his  sub- 
ordinates, and  to  members  of  the  police 
force,  who  have  often  mentioned  to  me 
something   of  interest   pertaining   to   the 


PREFACE  xiii 

bird-life  within  the  Garden  and  have  al- 
ways been  civilly  responsive  in  my  com- 
munication with  them. 

Finally  it  may  be  said  that  should  the 
records  herein  set  forth  lead  others  to  ob- 
tain future  records  and  continue  the  study 
of  migratory  life  within  the  Garden,  a 
fuller  knowledge  of  its  facts  and  a  broader 
basis  for  deductions  than  the  author^s  nine 
years'  experience  affords  will  result.  The 
pursuit  will  be  all  pleasure  and  the  result  so 
much  gain. 

Horace  W.  Wright. 

Boston,  January  25,  1909. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

When  Mr.  Wright  did  me  the  honor  to 
propose  that  my  name  should  be  associated 
with  his  book,  my  thoughts  naturally  re- 
verted to  the  days,  now  long  past,  when 
I  too  lived  in  Boston  and,  as  the  newest 
of  beginners  in  bird  study,  —  not  half  so 
fashionable  an  amusement  then  as  it  has 
since  happily  become, —  perambulated  the 
Common  and  the  Public  Garden  morning 
after  morning  in  quest  of  knowledge.  How 
pleasant  those  mornings  were!  And  what 
wonders  upon  wonders  I  discovered !  I  was 
young  then,  though  I  had  already  lived 
nearly  half  the  years  allotted  to  man  in  that 
unfortunate  old  Hebrew  verse  the  incessant 
iteration  of  which  has  made  so  many  good 
people  old  before  their  time.  And  a  happy 
thing  it  is  to  be  young  —  young  and  igno- 
rant. For  when  a  man  is  young  the  world 
also  is  young ;  and  when  a  man,  ignorant  as 
I  was  in  those  bright  days,  begins  to  be  or- 


xvi  INTRODUCTORY   NOTE 

nithologically  inclined,  it  is  very  much  as  if 
all  the  birds  had  just  been  created,  or,  at 
the  very  least,  had  just  been  let  out  of  the 
ark.  So  I  found  it.  Like  the  Lord's  mercies, 
they  were  new  every  morning  and  fresh 
every  evening.  Such  an  additional  pleasure 
as  it  was,  too,  to  meet  all  those  lovely 
strangers  so  near  home,  and  in  what,  to  my 
benighted  apprehension,  was  so  unpromis- 
ing a  place.  Nobody  had  ever  told  me  that 
a  city  park  is  one  of  the  likeliest  of  all 
places  in  which  to  look  for  nocturnal  birds 
of  passage ;  that  the  nightly  glare  of  a  great 
city  has  something  like  the  well-known  fas- 
cination of  a  lighthouse  for  such  travelers, 
especially  in  foggy  weather.  It  was  twenty 
years  afterward  that  a  friend  of  mine  in- 
quired of  one  of  our  most  distinguished  or- 
nithologists where  he  should  go  in  May  to 
obtain  sight  of  certain  rare  warblers  that 
had  hitherto  eluded  his  ken,  and  was  an- 
swered, much  to  his  surprise,  I  think, 
though  an  undistinguished  friend  had  al- 
ready given  him  precisely  the  same  advice, 
*^Go  to  Central  Park,  New  York." 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE  xvii 

Well,  the  Boston  Garden  has  no  doubt 
grown  more  populous  of  recent  years,  as  the 
city  lamps  have  increased  in  number  and 
brightness.  So  I  shall  try  to  believe  that  it 
may  not  be  entirely  due  to  Mr.  Wright's 
superior  acuteness  that  his  Garden  list  is  so 
much  longer  than  mine  ever  was.  I  had  my 
fun,  at  all  events,  and  if  he  has  had.  more, 
why,  so  much  the  better.  That  he  is  a 
sharp-eyed  and  competent  observer,  quick 
to  see  but  slow  to  conclude,  having  (what  is 
by  no  means  the  commonest  thing  in  the 
world)  a  wholesome  appreciation  of  the  dif- 
ference between  guesswork  and  certainty, 
—  of  so  much  I  am  sure,  having  been  more 
than  once  with  him  in  the  field.  Some- 
times, noting  his  habits  of  thought  and 
speech,  I  have  been  reminded  of  the  apos- 
tolic admonition,  "Let  your  moderation 
be  known  unto  all  men  "  :  a  salutary  admo- 
nition, surely,  for  all  scientific  observers, 
and  especially  for  those  of  us  who  bring 
home  no  ''specimens"  with  which  to  es- 
tablish our  testimony.  I  am  glad  that  Mr. 
Wright's  patient  studies  are  to  be  published. 


xviii  INTRODUCTORY   NOTE 

They  well  deserve  to  be.  And  may  they  set 
many  another  man  upon  the  same  delight- 
ful quest  that  he  has  so  profitably  followed. 
It  was  the  j oiliest  of  chronic  invalids  who 
said :  — 

"  The  world  is  so  full  of  a  number  of  things, 
I  'm  sure  we  should  all  be  as  happy  as  kings  " ; 

which  is  well  enough,  of  course,  in  its  old- 
fashioned  way,  though  I  suppose  it  is  al- 
lowable in  these  days  to  doubt  whether  the 
average  king,  for  all  the  glories  of  his  birth 
and  state,  is  so  very  much  to  be  envied. 
**  Even  in  a  palace  life  may  be  lived  well." 
Yes,  and  even  on  a  throne  a  man  may  per- 
adventure  be  happy;  but  how  much  hap- 
pier, did  he  but  know  it,  in  the  saddle  of  a 
pet  hobby  horse,  ambling  at  his  ease,  morn- 
ing after  morning,  over  the  pleasant  malls 
of  a  quiet  city  garden. 

Bradford  Torrey. 

Santa  Barbara,  California, 
January  7,  1909. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Silver  Maple  (Acer  saccharinum),  which  a 
Blackburaian  Warbler  occupied  during  a  four 
days'  visit Frontispiece 

The  European  White  Birch  {Betula  alba),  and 
the  cove  of  the  pond  round  which  visiting  Sand- 
pipers have  walked .    60 

The  White  Willow  {Salix  alba),  in  which  many 
Warblers  congregate  and  sing  and  where  the 
Cuckoo  sat  silent  and  inactive 68 

The  Island,  which  attracts  the  Crackles  and 
Robins  and  calls  to  its  protection  many  a  migrant 
bird 94 

The  Basin  and  The  Weeping  Beech,  where  the 
Cape  May  Warbler  sought  and  secured  its  bath. , 
Under  the  weeping  beech  the  Lincoln's  Sparrow 
sometimes  hides 150 

The  Old  Willow  Group,  in  which  many  of  the 
rarer  Warblers  have  been  seen  and  beneath  which 
the  Oven-bird  often  walks 168 


XX  ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Retreat  of  the  Yellow-breasted  Chat 
when  shyly  eluding  visitors ;  where  also  late  Her- 
mit Thrushes  in  the  autumn  linger  fearlessly .    .    .  1 76 

Tece  European  Beech  {Fagus  sylvatica)^  in  and 
beneath  which  the  Thrushes  seek  seclusion,  and 
through  which  the  Blue-gray  Gnatcatcher  rest- 
lessly flitted 196 


BIRDS  OF  THE 
BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN 


BIRDS  OF  THE 
BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

The  "Memorial  History  of  Boston," 
edited  by  Justin  Winsor,  contains,  in  the 
chapter  entitled  **  The  Horticulture  of  Bos- 
ton and  Vicinity,"  by  Marshall  Pinckney 
Wilder,  the  following  account  of  the  origin 
of  the  Public  Garden:  **The  origin  of  this 
[Public  Garden]  may  be  traced  to  the  de- 
sire of  a  few  citizens  who  were  interested 
in  horticultural  improvements  and  rural 
embellishments,  but  more  especially  in  the 
establishment  of  a  Botanic  or  a  Public  Gar- 
den, similar  to  those  of  the  cities  of  the  Old 
World.  Among  these  gentlemen  was  Mr. 
Horace  Gray,  to  whose  great  enterprise  and 
indomitable  perseverance  we  are,  perhaps, 
more  than  to  any  other  man,  indebted  for 
the  original  idea.  .  .  .  Mr.  Gray,  in  1839, 
with  a  few  associates,  obtained  from  the 
city  a  lease  of  this  marginal  area  for  a  Bo- 
tanic Garden,  upon  which  a  greenhouse  had 


4  BIRDS   OF  THE 

been  built,  while  the  grounds  were  partially 
laid  out  with  a  variety  of  ornamental  trees 
and  plants.  A  company  was  organized,  of 
which  Mr.  Gray  was  chairman,  and  went 
zealously  to  work.  A  very  large  circus- 
building  situated  just  back  of  the  corner, 
west  of  Beacon  and  Charles  streets,  was 
converted  into  an  immense  conservatory 
for  plants  and  birds.  This  had  four  gal- 
leries, to  each  of  which  plants  were  assigned 
according  to  a  proper  classification.  It  be- 
came a  place  of  great  attraction  for  the 
public  until  the  building  and  the  entire 
collection  were  destroyed  by  fire.  The  ad- 
jacent grounds  were  filled  up  and  the  gar- 
den was  enlarged  by  the  city,  with  the 
provision  that  it  was  never  to  be  built  on. 
In  1859  these  grounds  became  our  Public 
Garden,  and  in  i860  it  was  remodeled  by 
laying  out  and  planting  on  a  definite  and 
proper  plan." 

It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  the  in- 
ception of  the  Public  Garden  dates  from 
1839,  when  a  portion  of  its  lands  began  to 
be  cultivated  for  public  use  and  enjoyment 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN      5 

under  intelligent  care,  and  that  its  estab- 
lishment in  the  entirety  of  its  present  area 
under  the  name  of  the  Public  Garden 
was  effected  in  1859,  when  Hon.  Frederic 
Walker  Lincoln,  Jr.,  was  mayor  of  the 
city. 

The  area  of  the  Public  Garden  is  twenty- 
four  acres.  The  area  of  the  Common  which 
adjoins  it,  separated  only  by  a  public  street, 
is  forty-eight  acres.  This  combined  domain 
has  come  to  be  quite  within  the  heart  of 
the  city  through  its  expansion  westward 
during  the  last  fifty  years.  Busy  streets 
surround  it  on  all  sides,  and  substantial 
office  buildings  and  stores,  churches  and 
theatres,  hotels,  club-houses,  and  residences 
line  these  streets,  the  State  House  crowning 
the  highest  point  of  Beacon  Street.  A  mile 
eastward  is  the  harbor-front. 

For  two  or  three  miles  westward  the 
Back  Bay  district  stretches  to  the  town 
of  Brookline.  This  region  within  the  last 
half-century  has  been  filled  in,  laid  out  in 
streets  and  avenues,  and  become  largely 
built  up  into  a  new  section  of  the  city.  Thus 


6  BIRDS   OF   THE 

the  Common  and  the  Public  Garden  have 
become  an  isolated  park-area  in  the  midst 
of  the  city,  separated  from  wild  lands  and 
country  estates.  As  such  it  serves  as  an 
aviary  for  birds  in  their  migrations. 

No  human  power  controls  this  aviary  as 
a  natural  temporary  cage  to  such  birds  as 
elect  to  occupy  it  for  rest  and  desired  delay 
in  their  onward  flight.  To  such,  moreover, 
no  inducements  present  themselves  to  move 
out  from  it,  for  there  is  no  inviting  and  suit- 
able contiguous  territory  for  them  to  move 
into.  So,  until  they  are  inspired  to  proceed 
farther,  the  migrant  birds  which  alight  in 
this  domain,  a  veritable  oasis  amid  a  des- 
ert of  roofs,  remain;  with  little  exception 
remain  throughout  the  day  following  the 
night  of  their  flight,  and  to  a  considerable 
extent  remain  over  a  second  day  or  several 
days,  and  occasionally  a  week  or  more. 

While  the  Common  must  be  regarded  as 
contributing  a  large  part,  a  two-thirds  part 
indeed,  to  this  island  of  rest  amid  human 
habitations  and  bustling  activities,  it  has 
not  been  found  that  it  attracts  very  many 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN      7 

of  the  migrant  birds  to  its  grounds.  The 
central  portion,  consisting  of  the  Frog  Pond 
and  Monument  Hill  and  their  fringes  of 
level  land,  receives  most  of  the  birds  which 
visit  the  Common.  But  constituted,  as  it  is, 
entirely  of  large  and  tall  trees  and  lawns 
broken  only  by  footpaths,  being  without 
shrubbery  and  low  growth,  it  attracts  few 
birds  in  respect  both  to  number  and  di- 
versity of  species  as  compared  with  the 
Public  Garden.  For  this  reason  the  Garden 
has  been  the  especial  field  of  observation, 
while  the  Common  has  been  more  casually 
visited. 

The  Public  Garden  is  surrounded  by  elms 
and  maples  mostly  of  large  size,  which  line 
the  streets  bounding  it :  American  elms  on 
Beacon  and  Boylston  streets,  English  elms 
on  ArHngton  Street,  and  maples  on  Charles 
Street.  These  trees  contribute  to  make  the 
inclosure  retired  and  seclude  it  from  the 
brick  and  stone  buildings  and  the  streets 
with  their  busy  traffic  which  border  it.  For 
although  upon  two  sides  trolley-cars  are 
constantly  running,  and  on  the  Boylston 


8  BIRDS   OF   THE 

Street  side  is  the  opening  of  the  subway 
with  all  the  noise  and  stir  accompanying 
the  incessant  entrance  and  exit  of  cars,  yet 
these  conditions  prove  not  to  be  serious 
disadvantages  in  the  situation. 

Within  its  bounds  the  Garden  contains 
many  trees  which  have  attained  large 
growth,  including  American,  EngHsh,  and 
Dutch  elms,  white,  weeping,  and  laurel- 
leaved  willows,  cottonwoods,  silver,  syca- 
more, sugar,  red,  and  Norway  maples, 
American,  European,  purple-leaved,  and 
weeping  beeches,  white  and  Lombardy  pop- 
lars, lindens,  horse-chestnuts,  white,  purple- 
leaved,  and  cut-leaved  weeping  birches, 
double-flowered  hawthorns,  tulip  -  trees, 
gingko  trees,  Kentucky  coffee-trees,  a  red 
mulberry,  a  honey  locust,  a  koelreuteria,  a 
sophora,  a  catalpa,  a  European  larch,  and 
still  others.  Weeping  elms  and  mountain- 
ashes,  double-flowered  cherries  and  peaches, 
Chinese  and  Parkman  crabs,  redbuds, 
magnolias  in  variety,  spindle- trees,  Siberian 
pea-trees,  weeping  sophoras,  and  many 
others  too  numerous  to  mention  constitute 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN     9 

the  smaller  tree-growth  of  the  grounds. 
The  trees  large  and  small  number  about  a 
thousand.  Shrubs  are  growing  in  consid- 
erable variety,  such  as  common,  white,  and 
Persian  lilacs,  syringas,  viburnums,  wei- 
gelias,  forsythias,  dogwoods,  honeysuckles, 
acacias,  Japanese  quinces,  snowberries,  and 
rhododendrons.  Several  groups  of  dwarf 
evergreens  are  clustered  at  points  near  to 
the  gateways;  beds  of  hardy  roses  and 
azaleas  here  and  there  break  the  continuity 
of  the  lawns ;  and  much  of  the  iron  fencing 
which  incloses  the  grounds  supports  run- 
ning vines.  Beds  of  tulips,  hyacinths,  and 
narcissi  at  the  opening  of  the  spring  have 
place  in  the  borders  of  the  lawns  through- 
out. Together  with  this  combination  of 
tree,  shrub,  vine,  and  flowering  bulb  and 
plant  in  great  variety,  a  pond  covering  an 
area  of  nearly  four  acres,  located  in  the 
centre  of  the  grounds,  and  a  spread  of  green 
turf  throughout  offer  an  attractive  resting- 
place  to  the  migrant  birds. 

The  birds  which  come  therein  are  little 
disturbed.   It  may  be  that  the  presence  of 


lo  BIRDS   OF  THE 

many  visitors,  when  the  early  hours  of  the 
day  have  passed,  urges  them  sometimes 
into  somewhat  more  of  retirement  and  re- 
quires of  those  that  feed  upon  the  ground 
more  alertness  and  change  of  location ;  but 
the  house  sparrows  seem  to  interfere  little 
with  the  comfort  of  these  migrant  birds, 
although  once  in  a  while  it  happens  that 
there  is  a  severe  chase  of  a  warbler  or  other 
small  bird,  if  it  shall  have  offended  by  song 
or  in  some  other  way  and  roused  the  jeal- 
ousy or  the  temper  of  these  permanent  resi- 
dents. 

From  danger  from  human  agencies  and 
from  their  natural  enemies  of  the  wild  they 
are  free.  Even  cats  from  the  surrounding 
dwellings  come  little  within  the  inclosure 
and  seem  to  offer  but  slight  menace  to  the 
safety  of  the  visitants.  These  often  show 
very  little  shyness  and  in  many  instances 
change  their  location  only  slightly  during 
their  visit.  A  quiet  approach  and  generally 
cautious  movements  on  the  part  of  the 
observer  usually  result  in  successful  obser- 
vation; and  oftentimes  the  visitants  are 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  ii 

very  unconcerned,  even  when  quite  close 
approach  to  them  is  made,  and  show  no 
fear. 

It  was  not  until  May  of  1900  that  the 
author  of  this  Httle  compendium  of  obser- 
vation turned  his  steps  toward  the  Public 
Garden  to  see  what  migrant  bird-life  there 
might  be  within.  Two  years  previous  he 
had  taken  up  the  pastime  of  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  the  birds,  and  during  that 
time  he  had  sought  the  suburbs  and  the 
country  by  almost  daily  excursions  from 
the  city,  and  had  made  use  of  the  very  full 
advantages  in  summer  of  residence  among 
the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire. 
It  was  known  to  him  that  Mr.  Bradford 
Torrey  had  gathered  into  the  initial  chap- 
ter of  his  delightful  little  book  entitled 
**  Birds  in  the  Bush,"  published  fifteen  years 
earlier,  the  results  of  his  several  years'  ob- 
servation on  the  Common  and  in  the  Gar- 
den reaching  back  into  the  seventies;  but 
it  had  been  assumed  that  such  results  be- 
longed to  bygone  days  on  account  of  the 
growth  of  the  city,  and  it  had  not  been 


12  BIRDS   OF  THE 

suggested  to  him  as  an  evolving  ornitholo- 
gist that  he  might  find  what  he  was  seeking, 
even  the  rarer  warblers  and  thrushes  and 
finches,  at  his  very  door,  so  to  speak,  or 
within  five  minutes'  walk,  in  the  centrally 
located  Public  Garden.  But  it  happened 
on  the  ninth  day  of  the  said  May  that,  hav- 
ing been  driven  back  from  a  quiet  town  on 
the  Sudbury  River  —  singularly  favored  in 
the  richness  of  its  bird-life  through  its  di- 
versity of  natural  attractions  —  by  a  sud- 
den change  of  weather  which  had  replaced 
an  early  morning  warmth  of  seventy  de- 
grees and  a  temperature  ascending  still 
higher  in  the  early  forenoon  with  a  cold 
drizzle  from  the  northeast,  he  sought  in 
the  afternoon  the  Public  Garden  for  possi- 
biHties,  inasmuch  as  the  morning  had  indi- 
cated a  full  tide  of  migration  during  the 
previous  night,  and  he  felt  disinclined  to 
lose  a  day's  opportunity,  if  haply  he  might 
find  it  in  the  Garden. 

Therefore  great  and  happy  was  his  sur- 
prise to  find  that  the  place  was  well  occu- 
pied with  migrants  and  that   birds  were 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  13 

present  which  he  might  search  for  widely  in 
the  country  and  not  find.  A  Httle  brown 
creeper  introduced  him  to  the  company  of 
the  afternoon  and  was  the  first  bird  of  the 
hosts  which  since  then  have  marshaled 
themselves  before  him.  The  rarer  birds 
seen  on  this  first  visit  were  a  Lincoln's 
sparrow  and  a  yellow-breasted  chat. 
There  were  present  four  or  five  olive-backed 
thrushes,  a  northern  water- thrush,  a  brown 
thrasher,  a  ruby-crowned  kinglet,  an  oven- 
bird,  a  female  towhee,  a  catbird,  more  than 
a  dozen  white-throated  sparrows,  and  nine 
other  species  of  birds,  making  the  number 
identified  twenty  species. 

So  fruitful  in  spite  of  the  weather  was 
this  first  visit  that  it  was  naturally  deter- 
mined to  make  daily  visits.  Thus  the  prac- 
tice of  making  careful  observation  and 
taking  the  census  of  the  birds  present  each 
day  was  begun.  The  observations  and  re- 
cords have  now  covered  nine  years.  Each 
subsequent  year's  observations  have  begun 
with  the  opening  of  the  season  in  March 
and  continued  to  almost  or  quite  the  end  of 


14  BIRDS   OF   THE 

May,  when  absence  from  the  city  for  the 
summer  has  terminated  the  records  for  the 
season,  but  not  until  the  spring  migration 
had  almost  ended  and  there  would  be  little 
more  to  record,  yet  failing  to  obtain  the 
June  records,  such  as  they  might  be.  Not 
half  a  dozen  days  in  the  eight  seasons  sub- 
sequent to  the  year  of  beginning  have  the 
visit  and  the  record  been  omitted  after  the 
season  had  opened.  The  observations  have 
been  systematically  carried  on  with  a  grow- 
ing interest  and  a  realization  that  the  ma- 
terial gathered  was  supplying  valuable 
data  in  relation  to  several  aspects  of  bird- 
migration. 

Usually  two  complete  rounds  of  the  Gar- 
den have  been  made  each  morning  in  order 
that  the  full  census  of  the  day  might  be 
obtained.  The  second  enumeration  of  flocks 
and  recording  of  individuals  has  commonly 
confirmed  the  first,  or  if  not,  such  modifi- 
cations in  numbers  have  been  made  as  the 
second  round  indicated  to  be  a  truer  record. 
Naturally  facility  in  accomplishing  this 
with  an  approximation  to  accuracy  was 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  15 

gradually  gained.  The  records  are,  there- 
fore, to  be  regarded  as  the  result  of  system 
and  thoroughness.  Yet  the  author  would 
not  be  understood  as  desiring  the  reader  to 
think  that  no  visitant  within  the  Garden 
has  escaped  his  notice  and  that  he  has  an 
absolutely  complete  record  of  all  of  the  mi- 
grant bird-life  therein  during  the  term  of 
the  nine  years.  In  the  days  of  May  often 
two  hours,  sometimes  nearly  three  hours, 
have  been  employed  before  the  breakfast- 
hour,  arrival  in  the  Garden  dating  from 
five  or  five-thirty  o'clock.  The  freshness 
and  beauty  of  the  early  morning  have  given 
added  charm  and  zest  to  the  pursuit  defi- 
nitely in  mind. 

Daily  visits  to  the  Garden  have  been 
resumed  upon  returning  to  the  city  on  or 
before  the  middle  of  October  and  have  been 
extended  to  the  end  of  the  season  in  No- 
vember, with  casual  visits  after  the  migra- 
tion-flights had  ended.  No  winter  residents 
have  been  found  in  the  Garden,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  chickadee,  a  pair 
of  which  twice  have  spent  the  winter  there. 


i6  BIRDS   OF  THE 

And  visitants  in  the  winter  are  very  infre- 
quent and  only  accidental. 

The  summer  and  earlier  autumn  move- 
ments of  migration  have  not  come  under 
observation,  therefore.  This  is  a  deficiency 
which  the  author  sincerely  regrets,  but 
which  the  ordering  of  his  year  has  left  un- 
suppHed. 

Nearly  all  of  the  visits  have  been  made  in 
the  early  morning.  Bird-observers  are  well 
aware  that  this  is  the  most  favorable  time 
of  day  at  all  seasons  and  in  all  places. 
Especially  is  it  of  advantage  to  reach  a 
central  city  park  like  the  Public  Garden 
at  an  early  hour  and  make  a  careful  round 
before  it  is  much  astir  with  human  life  and 
when  the  activity  therein  is  mostly  that  of 
the  birds  themselves.  Moreover,  at  such  an 
hour  the  noise  of  the  city  does  not  much 
obtrude  itself,  and  the  air  is  comparatively 
quiet  for  the  songs  and  the  calls  of  the  birds 
to  be  heard. 

It  is  also  true  that  at  this  time  the  house 
sparrows  are  less  numerous  and  active,  for 
they  are  more  distributed  and  engaged  in 


BOSTON   PUBLIC  GARDEN  17 

feeding  and  are  less  noisy  and  bent  upon 
mischief.  Later  in  the  day,  as  the  season 
advances,  when  throngs  of  people  come 
thither  to  enjoy  the  opening  blossoms,  the 
display  of  flowering  bulbs  and  the  expand- 
ing leafage,  it  becomes  less  easy  to  move 
about  freely,  and  the  birds  are  more  likely 
to  be  elusive  as  they  shyly  evade  passers- 
by. 

Still,  sometimes  visits  have  been  made  in 
the  forenoon  and  in  the  afternoon  with  good 
results.  Especially  has  this  been  the  case 
when  the  previous  night  has  brought  one  of 
the  larger  migration-flights,  and  a  second 
and  even  a  third  visit  has  been  made,  to 
obtain  fuller  assurance  that  the  census  of 
the  day  had  been  adequately  taken.  In 
some  such  instances  a  few  birds  have  been 
noted  in  the  subsequent  visits  which  were 
not  seen  in  the  early  morning,  or  may  not 
have  been  present  then,  although  it  is  a 
general  truth  that  the  birds  come  in  the 
night  and  do  not  drop  along  through  the 
hours  of  the  day,  and  consequently  that  all 
are  likely  to  be  present  in  the  morning 


i8  BIRDS   OF  THE 

which  will  be  within  the  Garden  on  that 
day. 

In  evidence  of  night  migration  is  the 
repeated  fact  that,  when  at  the  close  of  the 
day  a  survey  of  the  grounds  has  revealed 
the  bird-life  which  is  present,  the  round 
the  next  morning  at  the  opening  of  the  day 
shows  the  presence  of  birds  not  present  the 
evening  previous, — sometimes  a  host,  but, 
whether  many  or  few,  it  is  clear  that  they 
have  come  in  the  night  and  are  beginning 
the  day  in  this  new  sojourning-place.  More- 
over, the  chips  and  tseets  of  passing  small 
birds  may  be  heard  on  quiet  evenings  in 
migration  time  by  sensitive  listeners.  And 
keepers  of  lighthouses  testify  to  the  flights 
of  birds  by  night,  being  witnesses  of  their 
striking  against  the  lighted  lanterns. 

Sometimes  there  is  a  very  varied  and 
large  collection  of  migrants  in  the  Garden 
when  the  country  is  not  found  to  be  so  well 
occupied.  This  suggests  that  the  bright 
lights  of  the  city  attract  the  birds  in  their 
onward  flight  by  night  and  induce  many  to 
stop,  thus  securing  to  an  area  like  the  Gar- 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  19 

den  with  its  attractions  of  varied  growth 
and  water  under  the  lights  a  larger  share 
of  migrants  than  a  similar  acreage  in  the 
country  is  wont  to  receive. 

It  has  been  already  remarked  that  there 
is  no  contiguous  territory  for  the  visitants 
to  move  into.  So,  once  in  the  Garden,  they 
with  few  exceptions  remain  throughout  the 
day,  thus  securing  to  visitors  later  in  the 
day  fair  chances  to  find  them  and  observe 
them.  Some  birds  choose  to  stay  two,  three, 
or  more  days. 

Some  species,  for  instance,  the  bluebird, 
the  cedar  waxwing,  and  the  sandpiper,  make 
a  hasty  visit  after  the  day  is  well  opened, 
flying  in  for  a  brief  call,  it  may  be,  and  ris- 
ing on  wing  and  going  on  again.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  bluebird  migrates  in  this 
way  by  day.  The  short  calls  which  occa- 
sional sandpipers  and  flocks  of  cedar  wax- 
wings  and  some  flocks  of  robins  make 
indicate  that  the  same  is  also  true  of  these 
species. 

The  period  of  migration  covered  by  the 
species  which  are  in  the  habit  of  visiting 


20  BIRDS   OF   THE 

the  Garden  is  shown  under  the  discission 
of  the  species  in  the  annotated  Hst  which 
follows.  A  long  period  of  migration  is  es- 
pecially characteristic  of  some  of  the  species 
which  belong  to  the  sparrow  family.  No 
one  of  these  nests  in  the  Garden  or  on  the 
Common,  yet  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are 
not  a  few  very  late  arriving  individuals  be- 
longing to  species  which  appear  in  March 
and  early  April,  indicating  that  some  in- 
dividuals of  those  species  which  early  reach 
their  nesting  haunts  delay  their  coming  very 
much  for  vsome  reason  and  arrive  with  the 
warblers  and  other  later  migrants  in  mid- 
May. 

In  regard  to  the  long-extended  migration 
of  certain  species,  there  is  reason  for  think- 
ing that  the  earliest  arriving  birds,  belonging 
to  species  which  nest  in  Massachusetts  as 
well  as  in  northern  New  England  and  far- 
ther north,  are  summer  resident  birds,  and 
that  the  later  arriving  visitants  are  birds 
which  will  proceed  beyond  the  confines  of 
the  State  to  breed.  Thus  the  very  late 
savanna  sparrows,  song  sparrows,  swamp 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  21 

sparrows,  and  other  sparrow  visitants  with- 
in the  Garden,  which  come,  as  they  do  year 
by  year,  in  the  larger  migratory  flights  with 
the  warblers  and  thrushes  in  the  middle  and 
even  later  portion  of  May,  are  likely  to  be 
on  their  way  with  these  more  northern-nest- 
ing birds  to  points  far  beyond,  while  in  the 
case  of  a  few  very  early  arriving  birds,  as 
hermit  thrushes,  for  example,  it  is  thought 
that  they  may  very  likely  be  the  summer 
resident  birds  of  the  State.  This  in  its  en- 
tirety is  Mr.  William  Brewster^s  view.  This 
view  explains,  perhaps,  the  fact  of  the  very 
long-drawn-out  period  of  migration  which 
the  records  indicate  is  common  in  the  case 
of  the  above-named  sparrows  and  occurs 
in  the  case  of  the  hermit  thrush  also,  but 
with  this  difference,  that  with  the  latter 
species  the  few  visitants  are  the  early  birds 
and  with  the  former  the  few  visitants  are 
the  late  birds. 

But  not  only  does  it  appear  that  the  ear- 
lier arriving  visitants  in  the  Garden  may 
be  summer  resident  birds  of  the  State  and 
the  later  arriving  birds  be  migrants  on  their 


22  BIRDS   OF  THE 

way  farther  north ;  the  records  indicate  also 
that  in  general  the  summer  resident  birds 
have  arrived  in  their  haunts  in  the  suburbs 
and  neighboring  country  some  days  earlier 
than  any  individuals  of  the  respective  spe- 
cies have  shown  themselves  in  the  Garden. 
Thus,  if  we  make  use  of  the  dates  of  usual 
arrival  of  species  in  this  neighborhood,  as 
given  in  Mr.  Brewster's  **  Birds  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Region,"  we  find,  for  example,  that 
in  the  case  of  twenty  common  resident 
species,  selected  for  comparison,  the  first 
individuals  in  the  series  of  years  have  ar- 
rived in  the  Garden  from  three  to  eight 
days  later  than  in  the  surrounding  country 
and  that  the  range  of  first  arrival  of  each 
of  these  species  in  the  nine  years  has  been 
from  three  to  nineteen  days  later.  The 
twenty  examples  will  be  given :  kingbird  ar- 
rives from  four  to  fifteen  days  later ;  phoebe 
from  four  to  twelve  days  later ;  least  fly- 
catcher from  eight  to  fifteen  days ;  vesper 
sparrow  from  five  to  eighteen  days ;  chip- 
ping sparrow  from  six  to  seventeen  days ; 
towhee  from  eight  to  fifteen  days ;  scarlet 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN  23 

tanager  from  four  to  twelve  days ;  red-eyed 
vireo  from  five  to  thirteen  days ;  warbling 
vireo  from  four  to  nineteen  days ;  black  and 
white  warbler  from  five  to  seventeen  days ; 
Nashville  warbler  from  seven  to  nine  days ; 
yellow  warbler  from  six  to  nine  days ;  chest- 
nut-sided warbler  from  four  to  nine  days; 
black-throated  green  warbler  from  six  to 
eighteen  days;  oven-bird  from  three  to 
eight  days;  Maryland  yellow-throat  from 
four  to  nine  days ;  American  redstart  from 
four  to  ten  days ;  catbird  from  six  to  eight 
days ;  brown  thrasher  from  five  to  ten  days ; 
bluebird  from  eight  to  fifteen  days.  The 
testimony  of  the  Garden  seems,  therefore, 
to  substantiate  very  strongly  Mr.  Brew- 
ster's belief  that  in  general  the  earliest 
arriving  birds  are  summer  residents  and 
that  the  later  arriving  birds  are  migrants 
bound  farther  north. 

The  summer  absence  of  the  author  leaves 
in  some  measure  of  uncertainty  the  matter 
of  what  species  nest  in  the  Garden  and  on 
the  Common.  The  regular  nesting  of  three 
summer  resident  species  has  been  an  estab- 


24  BIRDS   OF  THE 

lished  fact  year  by  year,  evident  in  May, 
namely,  the  bronzed  grackle,  the  Baltimore 
oriole,  and  the  robin.  It  may  be  that  the 
red-eyed  vireo  or  the  warbling  vireo,  the 
redstart  or  the  least  flycatcher  has  been 
sometimes  represented  by  a  pair  of  breeding 
birds.  Mr.  Torrey  speaks  of  some  of  these 
species  as  being  summer  resident  birds  on 
the  Common  twenty-five  or  thirty  years 
ago.  A  vireo's  nest  on  the  Common,  well 
preserved  in  the  late  fall,  three  or  four 
years  ago  indicated  that  a  pair  either  of  red- 
eyed  or  warbling  vireos  had  nested  there, 
and  the  singing  of  a  redstart  on  the  Com- 
mon during  June  in  a  recent  summer, 
upon  the  testimony  of  a  friend,  points  to 
the  nesting  of  a  pair  of  that  species  there. 
Information  has  also  been  received  that 
in  the  summer  of  1907  a  pair  of  flickers 
nested  on  the  Common  and  reared  a  brood 
of  young,  and  also  that  two  flickers  were 
occasionally  seen  there  throughout  the  sum- 
mer of  1908.  The  careful  elimination  of 
dead  branches  from  the  trees  and  the  clos- 
ing up  of   all  holes  resulting  from  decay. 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  25 

done  in  the  furtherance  of  good  growth  and 
longevity,  constitute  these  grounds,  how- 
ever, not  a  favorable  place  for  nesting  by 
our  resident  woodpeckers.  Nests  of  breed- 
ing species  other  than  the  robin,  thegrackle, 
and  the  oriole  have  rarely  been  seen  in  the 
Garden  when  the  leaves  fall  in  autumn.  So 
the  nesting  of  other  than  the  three  species 
named  would  seem  to  be  incidental  and 
very  infrequent. 

There  are  usually  one  or  two  exception- 
ally large  flights  of  migrant  birds,  compre- 
hensive in  the  number  of  species  joined  to- 
gether, to  the  Garden  each  season.  These 
are  coincident  with  a  pronounced  warm 
wave  coming  in  the  middle  of  the  month  of 
May.  In  this  part  of  the  month,  on  a  warm 
morning  following  a  night  of  high  tempera- 
ture, a  number  of  newly  arrived  birds  will 
be  noted  at  once  upon  entering  the  grounds. 
As  advance  is  made,  the  promise  of  many 
migrants  is  found  to  be  fulfilled,  and  inter- 
est in  identification  reaches  an  eager  pitch. 
If,  as  sometimes  happens,  a  sudden  change 
of  weather  comes,  and  easterly  conditions, 


26  BIRDS   OF  THE 

with  or  without  rain,  accompanied  by  much 
lower  temperatures,  succeed  within  a  few 
hours,  the  host  of  migrants  remains  with 
nearly  unbroken  ranks  until  the  untoward 
conditions  have  passed  and  clear  skies  and 
a  rising  temperature  induce  a  further  flight 
northward.  They  are  notable  days  when 
there  is  such  a  combination  of  conditions, 
for  the  number  of  migrants  and  the  diver- 
sity of  species  are  likely  to  be  large,  and  the 
delay  may  continue  for  three  or  four  days. 
It  has  not  been  found  that  the  migrant 
birds  arrive  every  night,  and  that,  therefore, 
the  birds  of  yesterday  are  replaced  with 
other  birds  of  to-day,  limiting  as  a  rule  the 
stay  of  the  visitants  to  a  single  day.  The 
indications  all  point  to  the  opposite  idea, 
namely,  that  there  are  occasional  large  mi- 
gratory flights ;  that  birds  coming  in  these 
large  movements  remain  to  a  considerable 
extent  to  a  second  day,  and  some  of  them 
during  several  days;  that  a  species  may 
have  no  representatives  present  after  sev- 
eral or  many  individuals  have  come  and 
passed ;  that  then  a  new  representation  ar- 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN     27 

rives  in  another  general  migratory  flight. 
The  arrivals  of  birds  of  any  species  are 
thus  periodical  rather  than  regular  nightly 
during  the  migration-period  of  the  species. 
Location  and  number  of  birds  constitut- 
ing the  flocks  present,  both  of  which  data 
prove  in  very  many  instances  to  be  quite 
fixed  factors,  experience  has  shown,  serve 
as  bases  for  concluding  that  the  rule  is 
periodicity  of  arrival  and  not  daily  regu- 
larity. 

It  has  been  found,  also,  that  in  an  aviary 
such  as  the  Public  Garden  provides  the 
birds  may  be  discovered  and  identified  suc- 
cessfully under  rainy  conditions,  when  an 
umbrella  is  required  to  save  the  observer 
from  a  drenching  and  keep  the  field-glasses 
clear  for  use.  Such  a  day  was  May  19,  1900. 
During  the  whole  forenoon,  when  workmen 
were  obliged  to  leave  their  work  on  account 
of  the  steady  fall  of  rain  and  only  those 
who  needed  to  pass  through  the  Garden 
moved  on  its  paths,  the  hunt  was  success- 
fully pursued.  Thirty  species  of  migrant 
birds  were  recorded,  while  the  number  of 


28  BIRDS  OF  THE 

individuals  was  fifty-six,  including  thirty- 
three  warblers  of  sixteen  different  species. 
The  list  may  be  of  interest  as  furnishing 
precisely  the  names  of  the  birds  which  were 
present  and  their  respective  numbers  as 
recorded  on  this  rainy  day:  one  chimney 
swift,  one  wood  pewee,  one  least  flycatcher, 
two  white-throated  sparrows,  one  Lincoln's 
sparrow,  one  swamp  sparrow,  one  male 
scarlet  tanager,  one  barn  swallow,  one  red- 
eyed  vireo,  two  warbling  vireos,  one  black 
and  white  warbler,  one  golden-winged  war- 
bler, three  northern  parula  warblers,  two 
yellow  warblers,  one  male  black-throated 
blue  warbler,  one  magnolia  warbler,  one 
chestnut-sided  warbler,  five  black-poll  war- 
blers, one  male  Blackburnian  warbler,  one 
oven-bird,  four  northern  water- thrushes, 
five  Maryland  yellow-throats,  one  yellow- 
breasted  chat,  two  Wilson's  warblers,  two 
Canadian  warblers,  two  redstarts,  one  cat- 
bird, two  Wilson's  thrushes,  two  gray- 
cheeked  thrushes,  and  six  olive-backed 
thrushes. 

Four  days  later,  in  sunshine  and  warmth. 


BOSTON   PUBLIC  GARDEN  29 

on  the  ebb  of  the  tide  of  migration  for  the 
season,  twenty-two  species  of  migrant  birds 
were  recorded  and  forty-nine  individuals 
were  enrolled,  including  thirty-two  warblers 
of  fifteen  different  species.  Again  the  defi- 
nite list  may  be  of  interest  as  showing  the 
migrants  in  another  wave  of  migration: 
four  chimney  swifts,  one  Lincoln's  sparrow, 
one  swamp  sparrow,  four  male  and  one 
female  scarlet  tanagers,  two  warbling  vir- 
eos,  one  northern  parula  warbler,  two  yel- 
low warblers,  one  female  black-throated 
blue  warbler,  four  magnolia  warblers,  two 
chestnut-sided  warblers,  one  male  bay- 
breasted  warbler,  five  black-poll  warblers, 
one  male  Blackburnian  warbler,  one  prai- 
rie warbler,  one  northern  water-thrush,  six 
Maryland  yellow-throats,  one  yellow- 
breasted  chat,  two  Wilson's  warblers,  two 
Canadian  warblers,  two  redstarts,  one  cat- 
bird, and  three  gray-cheeked  thrushes. 
Some  of  these  birds  had  remained  from  the 
nineteenth  day,  but  many  were  new  ar- 
rivals. 
The  seasons  of  1901,  1902,  and  1903  fur- 


30  BIRDS  OF  THE 

nished  no  daily  records  as  large  as  those 
given  above,  thereby  indicating  the  year 
1900  to  have  been  one  of  the  exceptional 
years  in  respect  to  the  number  of  migrant 
birds  passing  through  the  Garden. 

Some  other  notable  days  in  the  last  five 
years  have  furnished  comprehensive  lists. 
These  follow. 

On  May  20,  1904,  the  record  day  of  the 
season,  twenty- three  species  of  migrant  birds 
were  present  and  forty-seven  individuals 
were  enrolled,  including  thirty-three  war- 
blers of  twelve  different  species.  The  list 
was :  one  swift,  one  purple  finch,  two  white- 
throated  sparrows,  one  song  sparrow,  one 
Lincoln's  sparrow,  two  swamp  sparrows, 
one  female  towhee,  one  female  black  and 
white  warbler,  one  Nashville  warbler,  one 
northern  parula  warbler,  four  myrtle  war- 
blers, three  magnolia  warblers,  two  black- 
poll  warblers,  two  black-throated  green 
warblers,  two  oven-birds,  three  northern 
water-thrushes,  seven  Maryland  yellow- 
throats,  six  Wilson's  warblers,  one  Canadian 
warbler,  one  catbird,  one  brown  thrasher, 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  31 

two  Wilson's  thrushes,  and  one  olive-backed 
thrush. 

In  1905  the  most  memorable  day  fell  on 
May  16,  when  thirty-eight  species  of  mi- 
grant birds  were  recorded  and  ninety  indi- 
viduals were  enrolled,  including  thirty- 
seven  warblers  of  eighteen  different  species. 
The  list  was:  one  swift,  two  kingbirds, 
one  wood  pewee,  one  least  flycatcher, 
two  white-crowned  sparrows,  four  white- 
throated  sparrows,  one  field  sparrow,  one 
swamp  sparrow,  one  male  rose-breasted 
grosbeak,  two  scarlet  tanagers,  male  and 
female,  four  cliff  swallows,  fifteen  barn 
swallows,  one  bank  swallow,  one  red-eyed 
vireo,  one  yellow-throated  vireo,  one  blue- 
headed  vireo,  three  black  and  white  war- 
blers, one  Nashville  warbler,  one  Tennessee 
warbler,  two  northern  parula  warblers, 
three  yellow  warblers,  one  male  black- 
throated  blue  warbler,  three  myrtle  war- 
blers, two  magnolia  warblers,  one  chest- 
nut-sided warbler,  two  black-poll  warblers, 
one  black-throated  green  warbler,  three 
oven-birds,  three  northern  water-thrushes, 


32  BIRDS   OF  THE 

four  Maryland  yellow-throats,  one  yellow- 
breasted  chat,  two  Wilson's  warblers,  three 
Canadian  warblers,  one  redstart,  four  cat- 
birds, three  Wilson's  thrushes,  six  olive- 
backed  thrushes,  and  one  female  bluebird. 
The  following  day,  whereas  some  of  the 
other  birds  had  passed  on,  the  warblers 
remained  with  slight  variations  in  numbers. 
Both  of  the  days  were  clouded,  with  easterly 
winds  and  a  temperature  of  forty-eight  de- 
grees. 

In  1906  the  maximum  record  was  made 
on  May  19,  a  comparatively  small  maxi- 
mum of  forty  migrant  birds  of  twenty-two 
species,  of  which  twenty-nine  birds  were 
warblers  of  fifteen  different  species.  The 
list  was:  one  northern  flicker,  one  swift, 
three  female  white-throated  sparrows,  one 
rose-breasted  grosbeak,  two  male  scarlet 
tanagers,  two  warbling  vireos,  three  north- 
ern parula  warblers,  one  yellow  warbler, 
one  male  black-throated  blue  warbler, 
three  myrtle  warblers,  three  magnolia  war- 
blers, one  female  chestnut-sided  warbler, 
two  black-poll  warblers,  one  male  Black- 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  33 

burnian  warbler,  one  male  black-throated 
green  warbler,  three  oven-birds,  one  north- 
ern water- thrush,  one  female  Maryland 
yellow-throat,  two  Wilson's  warblers,  two 
Canadian  warblers,  four  redstarts,  and  one 
olive-backed  thrush. 

In  1907  a  large  migration-flight  occurred 
on  May  14,  when  twenty-eight  species 
were  recorded  and  seventy-six  individuals 
were  enrolled,  including  twenty-four  war- 
blers of  ten  different  species.  The  list  was : 
one  northern  flicker,  four  chimney  swifts, 
one  least  flycatcher,  one  blue  jay,  one  bob- 
olink, one  red- winged  blackbird,  one  purple 
finch,  one  savanna  sparrow,  thirteen  white- 
throated  sparrows,  two  field  sparrows,  four 
swamp  sparrows,  six  towhees,  two  black 
and  white  warblers,  one  Nashville  warbler, 
two  northern  parula  warblers,  five  yellow 
warblers,  one  myrtle  warbler,  one  magnolia 
warbler,  one  chestnut-sided  warbler,  five 
oven-birds,  five  Maryland  yellow-throats, 
one  redstart,  three  catbirds,  six  brown 
thrashers,  one  house  wren,  one  wood  thrush, 
three  Wilson's  thrushes,  and  two  hermit 


34  BIRDS   OF  THE 

thrushes.  The  list  indicates  the  lateness  of 
arrival  of  some  sparrows  and  the  presence 
of  a  blue  jay  which  was  changing  its  loca- 
tion in  the  middle  of  May.  The  very  unus- 
ual visitants  a  house  wren  and  a  bobolink 
had  been  drawn  into  this  company,  and  a 
red-winged  blackbird  had  joined  it.  Two 
belated  hermit  thrushes  were  moving  on 
toward  their  summer  homes  at  the  same 
time  with  a  wood  thrush. 

But  on  May  19  of  the  same  year  all 
previous  records  were  broken  in  respect  to 
the  number  of  migrants,  when  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  migrant  birds  of  thirty- 
three  different  species  were  recorded,  and 
of  these,  seventy-four  birds  were  warblers 
of  sixteen  different  species,  namely,  three 
black  and  white,  male  and  female,  one  Nash- 
ville, thirteen  parula,  male  and  female,  two 
male  yellow,  one  male  black-throated  blue, 
seven  myrtle,  male  and  female,  ten  mag- 
nolia, male  and  female,  six  chestnut- sided, 
male  and  female,  one  male  black-poll,  one 
male  Blackburnian,  four  black-throated 
green,  one  oven-bird,  three  northern  wa- 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN     35 

ter-thrushes,  six  male  Maryland  yellow- 
throats,  ten  Wilson's,  male  and  female,  and 
five  redstarts.  The  other  species  present 
were  a  yellow-billed  cuckoo  in  song,  four 
swifts,  a  kingbird,  a  wood  pewee,  a  least 
flycatcher,  a  blue  jay,  two  purple  finches, 
eleven  white-throated  sparrows,  a  Lincoln's 
sparrow,  two  female  towhees,  a  scarlet 
tanager  in  song,  a  red-eyed  vireo,  a  blue- 
headed  vireo,  thirteen  catbirds,  five  brown 
thrashers,  a  Wilson's  thrush,  and  an  olive- 
backed  thrush.  It  will  be  seen  that  again  a 
blue  jay  was  present,  while  none  had  been 
noted  in  the  four  intervening  days.  This 
day  was  very  warm,  with  light  westerly 
winds,  and  attained  a  maximum  tempera- 
ture of  82^.  It  followed  a  fair  and  warm 
day  of  70°  maximum  temperature,  with 
light  southwesterly  winds,  conditions  most 
favorable  for  a  large  flight  of  migratory 
birds. 

The  following  day,  the  twentieth,  be- 
came rainy,  with  somewhat  lower  temper- 
ature. Some  of  the  birds  of  the  preceding 
day  had  gone,  but  others  had  arrived.  On 


36  BIRDS   OF  THE 

the  succeeding  days,  May  21,  22,  and  23, 
the  records  were  also  quite  large,  these 
being  fair  days,  with  a  maximum  tem- 
perature of  about  60°  and  westerly  winds 
and  a  minimum  temperature  of  about  42°, 
conditions  calculated  to  hold  the  visitants 
back  from  hastening  farther  north.  On  May 
21  sixty  migrants  were  recorded,  of  which 
forty-one  were  warblers.  On  May  22  fifty- 
seven  migrants  were  recorded,  of  which 
thirty-nine  were  warblers.  On  May  23 
forty- three  migrants  were  recorded,  of  which 
twenty-three  were  warblers.  The  numbers 
of  migrants  daily  thereafter  during  the 
remainder  of  the  month  were  compara- 
tively small.  But  the  year  1907  surpassed 
all  previous  years,  except  1905,  in  the  num- 
ber of  migrant  birds  which  passed  through 
the  Garden. 

In  1908  by  far  the  largest  migratory 
flight  came  on  May  12,  when  there  were 
one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  migrant 
birds  in  the  Garden  and  fifty  others  were 
recorded  on  the  Common,  surpassing  the 
record-day  of  1907.  The  preceding  day  and 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  37 

night  had  been  warm,  with  southwesterly- 
breezes,  the  temperature  rising  to  78°  and 
falling  in  the  night  not  below  66°.  As  soon 
as  the  eyes  and  ears  were  opened  to  the 
outer  world,  it  was  apparent  that  the  mi- 
grant birds  were  very  numerous.  The 
chips  of  warblers  were  heard  in  Louisburg 
Square  and  among  the  trees  of  Mt.  Vernon 
and  Chestnut  streets  on  the  way  to  the 
Common,  and  there  sparrows  and  warblers 
were  present  in  unwonted  numbers  about 
Monument  Hill  and  in  the  trees  which  clus- 
ter near  the  flagstaff.  As  is  usual,  in  pass- 
ing to  the  Garden,  it  proved  that  there  lay 
the  chief  centre  of  interest  by  reason  of  the 
many  species  present.  The  Hst  for  the  day 
was :  one  least  flycatcher,  one  purple  finch, 
one  pine  siskin,  nine  white-crowned  spar- 
rows, fifty  white-throated  sparrows  (by  es- 
timate) ,  one  chipping  sparrow,  one  Lincoln's 
sparrow,  one  swamp  sparrow,  five  towhees, 
one  rose-breasted  grosbeak,  and  the  follow- 
ing warblers:  two  black  and  white,  three 
northern  parula,  two  yellow,  three  black- 
throated  blue,  three  myrtle,  three  magnolia, 


38  BIRDS   OF   THE 

one  Blackburnian,  eight  oven-birds,  five 
northern  water-thrushes,  seven  Maryland 
yellow-throats,  one  yellow-breasted  chat, 
two  Wilson's,  and  three  redstarts;  iiine 
catbirds,  three  brown  thrashers,  two  Wil- 
son's thrushes,  three  olive-backed  thrushes, 
and  five  hermit  thrushes.  The  collection 
aggregated  twenty-eight  species,  of  which 
thirteen  species  were  warblers  embracing 
forty-three  individuals.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  percentage  of  warblers  in  this  flight  was 
small  in  comparison  with  what  it  is  in  the 
case  of  flights  which  occur  upon  days  later 
in  May. 

In  the  days  succeeding  the  twelfth  day, 
the  numbers  of  migrants  were  small  until 
the  morning  of  the  twenty-fourth  day.  In- 
deed, upon  the  two  days  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  twenty-fourth  day,  the  records 
show  that  no  migrant  was  present  in  the 
Garden.  This  condition  was  unprecedented 
in  this  part  of  May.  Therefore  the  migrants 
present  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  were  all 
newly  arrived  birds,  without  an  exception. 
They  were  sixty-four  in  number  and  of 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  39 

twenty-nine  species;  forty-five  of  them 
were  warblers  of  sixteen  different  species. 
Again  the  conditions  of  weather  were  fa- 
vorable for  a  notable  flight,  as  they  had 
been  on  the  occasion  twelve  days  previous. 
The  list  for  the  day  was:  one  nighthawk, 
one  hummingbird,  two  wood  pewees,  one 
yellow-bellied  flycatcher,  two  least  flycatch- 
ers, one  American  goldfinch,  two  red-eyed 
vireos,  one  male  scarlet  tanager,  one  Ten- 
nessee warbler,  one  northern  parula  war- 
bler, four  yellow  warblers,  one  male  black- 
throated  blue  warbler,  one  female  myrtle 
warbler,  three  magnolia  warblers,  one  male 
chestnut-sided  warbler,  four  black-poll 
warblers,  two  Blackburnian  warblers,  male 
and  female,  one  male  black-throated  green 
warbler,  one  oven-bird,  six  Maryland  yel- 
low-throats, three  northern  water-thrushes, 
four  Wilson's  warblers,  six  Canadian  war- 
blers, six  redstarts,  three  catbirds,  two  Wil- 
son's thrushes,  two  gray-cheeked  thrushes, 
and  one  olive-backed  thrush.  It  will  be 
observed  that  no  member  of  the  sparrow 
family  was  present  except  a  roaming  gold- 


40  BIRDS   OF  THE 

finch  and  that  the  warblers  constituted  over 
seventy-one  per  cent  of  the  flock.  Nearly 
all  of  these  migrants  departed  the  following 
night,  and  then  the  numbers  of  visitants 
present  were  comparatively  small  to  the  end 
of  the  month. 

These  nine  lists  have  been  given  in  the 
thought  that  they  may  serve  for  compari- 
son in  succeeding  years  by  observers  who 
may  be  making  up  the  census  of  the  mi- 
grant birds  in  these  larger  migratory  flights 
which  occur  year  by  year.  They  will  serve 
also  to  show  whether  in  the  years  to  come 
the  flights  are  larger  or  smaller  or  average 
about  the  same  in  a  longer  series  of  years. 
It  is  of  interest  that  the  figures  show  that 
in  the  last  two  years  the  largest  flights  in 
the  series  of  nine  years  have  occurred. 

In  presenting  exact  daily  records  it  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  compiler  thinks 
that  he  has  been  able  to  record  every  mi- 
grant which  day  by  day  may  have  visited 
the  Garden.  But  his  enrollment  has  pro- 
ceeded with  system  and  been  done  with  a 
view  to  its  being  thorough  and  as  nearly 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN     41 

accurate  as  carefulness  and  concentration 
of  purpose  could  attain. 

The  years  may  be  compared  as  to  the 
number  of  species  recorded  in  each  spring 
migration.  In  1900,  observation  not  begin- 
ning until  May  9,  fifty  species  were  re- 
corded; in  190 1,  fifty- two  species;  in  1902, 
sixty-one  species ;  in  1903,  sixty-one  species ; 
in  1904,  fifty-five  species;  in  1905,  eighty 
species ;  in  1906,  sixty- two  species ;  in  1907, 
seventy-four  species;  and  in  1908,  eighty 
species. 

The  seasons,  may  also  be  compared  in 
respect  to  the  aumber  of  individual  birds 
which  sought  rest  in  the  Garden.  The 
figures  for  comparison  are  obtained  from 
the  sum  of  the  daily  censuses,  and  do  not 
take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  visitants  remain  to  a  second  day  and 
some  for  several  days.  The  seasons  may  be 
regarded  as  averaging  alike  in  this  respect. 
If  we  take  the  fifteen  days  of  May  between 
the  ninth  and  the  twenty-third  days,  both 
inclusive,  which  was  the  entire  period  of 
observation  in  1900,  we  obtain  these  aggre- 


42  BIRDS   OF  THE 

gates:  in  1900,  528  migrants;  in  1901,  161 
migrants;  in  1902,  347  migrants;  in  1903, 
176  migrants;  in  1904,  164  migrants;  in 
1905,  601  migrants;  in  1906,  255  migrants; 
in  1907,  668  migrants;  in  1908,  360  mi- 
grants. 

If  the  whole  month  of  May  be  regarded, 
or  indeed  the  entire  spring  season,  the  years 
remain  relatively  the  same.  These  figures 
indicate  a  considerable  difference  in  the 
seasons  and  show  that  1900,  1905,  and  1907 
were  seasons  when  the  migrating  birds  were 
numerous  in  the  Garden,  while  in  the  sea- 
sons of  1 90 1,  1903,  and  1904  the  birds  were 
few,  and  that  the  seasons  of  1902,  1906,  and 
1908  were  intermediate  between  conditions 
of  abundance  and  scarcity.  These  varia- 
tions may  be  due  to  weather  conditions 
and  other  natural  causes,  such  as  might  be 
expected  to  have  their  influence  in  deter- 
mining the  exact  pathway  of  the  birds  and 
their  choice  of  the  Garden  as  a  resting-spot. 
Or  the  variations  may  be  due  in  some  de- 
gree to  destruction  of  bird-life  by  storms 
or  other  hostile  agencies,  which  have  deci- 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  43 

mated  their  numbers  during  their  winter 
sojourn  in  the  south  or  on  their  way  north- 
ward. But  if  such  be  the  case,  it  is  very 
reassuring  to  find  that  a  year  of  abun- 
dance again  follows  a  year  or  two  of  scant 
numbers,  as  the  figures  show,  and  that  two 
of  the  last  four  years  have  been  seasons 
of  greatest  abundance.  If  it  be  inquired 
whether  this  does  not  indicate  that  the  mi- 
grating birds  have  been  making  fuller  use 
of  the  Garden  as  a  way  station,  it  will  have 
to  be  answered  that  the  year  1900  was  a 
year  of  almost  as  great  abundance  as  the 
years  1905  and  1907  and  may  in  reality 
have  been  fully  the  equal  of  these  more 
recent  years,  since  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  powers  of  observation  of  the  re- 
corder have  become  more  keen  by  training, 
and  the  search  made  day  by  day  has  been 
more  exhaustive  than  in  that  first  year  of 
observation.  So  there  is  some  basis  for 
an  impression  that  the  season  of  1900  may 
have  equaled  any  subsequent  season  in 
respect  to  the  use  the  migrant  birds  made 
of  the  Garden.    How  many  years  previous 


44  BIRDS   OF   THE 

to  the  year  1900  the  Garden  may  have  been 
an  important  way  station  can  only  be  con- 
jectured, as  the  area  was  filled  in  and  laid 
out  as  a  Public  Garden  only  fifty  years  ago, 
the  land  being  reclaimed  from  the  flats  of 
the  Charles  River,  and  the  growth  of  the 
trees  and  its  development  into  the  attrac- 
tive garden  that  it  is  have  been  slowly  go- 
ing forward  in  the  intervening  years. 

Mr.  Torrey  in  the  seventies  and  eighties 
of  the  last  century  found  many  migrant  birds 
present  and  recorded  the  names  of  sixty- 
five  North  American  birds  which  he  had 
seen  on  the  Common  and  in  the  Garden. 
Of  their  numbers  in  his  years  of  observation 
he  says  in  his  essay  **0n  Boston  Common"  : 
**Now  it  is  only  a  straggler  or  two;  now 
a  considerable  flock  of  some  one  species; 
and  now  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  per- 
haps a  dozen  sorts."  Again :  ''During  every 
migration  large  numbers  of  warblers  visit 
us" ;  and  he  names  twelve  species,  adding, 
**No  doubt  the  list  is  far  from  complete, 
as,  of  course,  I  have  not  used  either  glass 
or  gun;  and  without  one  or  the  other  of 


BOSTON   PUBLIC  GARDEN  45 

these  aids  the  observer  must  be  content  to 
let  many  of  these  small,  treetop  haunting 
birds  pass  unidentified." 

But  however  it  may  have  been  in  the 
past,  it  is  a  pleasant  thought  to  bird-lovers 
that  now,  as  the  most  recent  years  indicate, 
the  migrating  birds  are  fully  availing  of 
the  grateful  advantages  of  the  Garden  for 
a  pause  in  their  long  northward  journeys, 
and  are  affording  ample  present  opportu- 
nity to  all  who  will  to  see  them,  to  hear  them 
sing,  and  in  a  measure  to  become  acquainted 
with  them,  as  far  as  this  may  be  realized 
away  from  their  actual  nesting-places, 
where  only  the  family  life  brings  out  all 
their  specific  characteristics  and  inspires 
whole-hearted  song. 

As  regards  the  dates  of  the  larger  migra- 
tion-flights in  May,  the  records  show  that 
one  occurred  on  the  first  day  in  1907;  on 
the  third  day  in  1905 ;  on  the  seventh  day 
in  1 90 1  and  1905  ;  on  the  ninth  day  in  1900 
and  1902 ;  on  the  tenth  day  in  1907  and 
1908;  on  the  twelfth  day  in  1901,  1905,  and 
1908 ;  on  the  thirteenth  day  in  1900,  1906, 


46  BIRDS  OF  THE 

and  1907 ;  on  the  fourteenth  day  in  1907 ; 
on  the  fifteenth  day  in  1900  and  1905 ;  on 
the  sixteenth  day  in  1905  and  1906 ;  on  the 
seventeenth  day  in  1902,  1905,  and  1908; 
on  the  eighteenth  day  in  1900  and  1907; 
on  the  nineteenth  day  in  1906  and  1907; 
on  the  twentieth  day  in  1903  and  1904; 
on  the  twenty-second  day  in  1901,  1902, 
and  1903 ;  on  the  twenty- third  day  in  1900 ; 
on  the  twenty-fourth  day  in  1908,  a  nota- 
ble flight  into  the  Garden,  following  upon 
an  entire  absence  of  migrants  the  two  pre- 
vious days  and  the  presence  of  but  three 
migrants  in  the  two  days  next  preceding; 
on  the  twenty-fifth  day  in  1904  and  1906; 
on  the  twenty-eighth  day  in  1907. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  May  in  1908  the 
largest  number  of  visitants  was  present  in 
the  Garden  which  had  been  noted  in  the 
series  of  years;  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  (twenty-eight  species)  were  recorded. 
On  the  Common  the  same  day  fifty  more 
were  numbered.  The  next  largest  record 
was  on  May  19,  1907,  when  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  migrant  birds  (thirty-three 


BOSTON   PUBLIC  GARDEN  47 

species)  were  recorded.  The  third  largest 
record  was  of  ninety  migrants  (thirty- 
eight  species)  present  on  May  16,  1905. 
The  fourth  largest  record  was  of  eighty- 
one  migrants  (fifteen  species,  there  being 
forty-five  white- throated  sparrows  present) 
on  May  3,  1905.  The  fifth  largest  record 
was  of  seventy-six  migrants  (twenty-eight 
species)  on  May  14,  1907.  The  sixth  largest 
record  was  of  sixty-four  migrants  (twenty- 
nine  species)  on  May  24,  1908. 

In  the  eight  seasons,  namely,  1901-1908, 
the  first  migrant  or  migrants  have  appeared 
respectively  on  the  following  dates :  in  1901, 
on  March  24,  song  sparrow  and  robin ;  in 
1902,  on  March  13,  flicker,  junco,  song  spar- 
row, hermit  thrush,  and  robin ;  in  1903  on 
March  6,  song  sparrow,  a  single  bird;  in 
1904,  on  March  24,  bronzed  grackle,  junco, 
song  sparrow,  and  robin ;  in  1905,  on  March 
18,  flicker,  bronzed  grackle,  song  sparrow, 
and  robin;  in  1906,  on  March  11,  bronzed 
grackle,  two  birds;  in  1907,  on  March  17, 
junco  and  song  sparrow ;  in  1908,  on  March 


48  BIRDS  OF  THE 

12,  bronzed  grackle,  song  sparrow,  and  robin. 
It  will  appear  that  the  song  sparrow  was 
the  first  or  among  the  first  migrants  in  all 
of  these  years  except  1906,  when,  after  the 
arrival  of  the  grackles,  daily  low  tempera- 
tures and  snowstorms  held  back  the  open- 
ing of  the  season  to  March  28,  on  which 
day  a  song  sparrow  and  a  robin  joined  the 
two  grackles  which  were  already  present. 

Some  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
subject  whether  the  latest  migrants  are 
usually  females,  the  male  birds  having 
preceded  them.  There  is  no  clear  evidence 
that  such  is  the  case.  Often  the  last  in- 
dividuals of  a  species  present  have  been 
singing  males.  Not  infrequently  the  last 
bird  or  birds  have  been  females.  Some- 
times the  latest  record  of  the  species  for 
the  season  shows  that  both  male  and  female 
birds  were  present  and  departed  together. 
It  is  generally  the  case,  however,  particu- 
larly in  respect  to  the  warblers,  that  full- 
plumaged  male  birds  precede  the  more 
dull-colored  female  birds  in  time  of  arrival 
by  a  day  or  two  or  more.  And  if  a  warbler 


BOSTON   PUBLIC   GARDEN  49 

of  any  species  be  seen  on  an  especially  early 
date,  it  is  almost  without  exception  a  male 
bird  which  has  pushed  ahead  and  perhaps 
broken  the  local  record. 

In  the  annotated  list  which  follows  it 
will  be  found  that  occasional  reference  is 
made  to  the  continuance  of  stay  of  individ- 
uals in  the  Garden.  In  the  case  of  the 
rarer  migrants  this  can  be  determined  with 
little  liability  of  error;  as,  when  a  Cape 
May  warbler  is  present  during  four  days, 
it  is  reasonably  certain  that  it  is  one  and 
the  same  bird,  if  the  bird  present  each  day 
differs  in  no  discernible  particular  from  the 
bird  first  seen.  Usually  in  these  cases  ad- 
ditional credibility  to  the  testimony  is  fur- 
nished by  the  fact  that  quite  commonly 
migrants  remain  in  the  section  of  the 
grounds  where  they  were  discovered  or  to 
which  they  soon  by  choice  move,  or,  if 
departing  therefrom,  show  a  strong  dispo- 
sition to  return  to  it  and  spend  much  of 
their  time  within  it,  feeling  wonted  therein, 
much  as  when  they  have  chosen  a  spot  on 
their  breeding-grounds  for  their  nest  and 


50  BIRDS   OF   THE 

circulate  rather  closely  about  its  immediate 
vicinity. 

The  notes  given  under  the  various  species 
in  the  list  which  follows  will  show  how  fre- 
quently this  has  been  true  in  instances  of 
extended  stay.  The  instances  which  are  not 
specially  mentioned  are  very  numerous.  A 
few  examples  may  be  cited  here.  A  Black- 
burnian  warbler  almost  confined  himself  to 
one  silver  maple  during  a  four  days'  stay. 
A  Cape  May  warbler  was  found  usually  in 
the  same  quarter  of  the  Garden  during  a 
foiir  days'  stay.  An  oven-bird  walked  back 
and  forth  near  a  section  of  the  Arlington 
Street  fence  during  a  seven  days*  stay.  A 
tailless  brown  thrasher,  which  finally  de- 
parted with  other  thrashers,  had  occupied 
the  same  section  during  a  seven  days'  stay. 
A  late-coming,  dull-colored  hermit  thrush 
was  daily  seen  in  May  within  one  small 
area  during  a  nine  days'  stay.  Other  ex- 
amples might  be  given  of  the  attachment 
of  visitants  to  a  very  limited  area  during 
even  an  extended  stay.  The  law  very  widely 
applies,  and  general  conformity  to  it  on  the 


BOSTON   PUBLIC  GARDEN  51 

part  of  visiting  birds  assists  an  observer 
very  much  in  determining  whether  a  migrant 
be  a  new  arrival  or  a  bird  he  has  already 
observed  and  recorded,  and  as  to  the  length 
of  stay  of  visitants. 

To  such  an  extent  is  attachment  to  a 
limited  area  manifested,  that  visiting  birds 
may  be  quite  confidently  looked  for  in  the 
section  where  they  have  already  been  seen, 
with  small  chance  of  disappointment,  if  the 
bird  still  be  present  and  not  have  taken  its 
departure.  In  consequence  of  this  attach- 
ment to  a  location,  even  in  migration,  an 
observer  may  state  to  another  person  who 
was  absent  at  the  time  where  he  saw  a  cer- 
tain bird  of  especial  interest,  and  observer 
number  two  is  quite  certain  to  find  the 
object  of  his  desire  where  it  was  described 
to  be,  and  this,  it  may  be,  hours  afterward, 
or  even  on  the  next  day. 

With  reference  to  the  singing  of  the  mi- 
grant birds  within  the  Garden,  it  may  be 
said  that  in  the  notes  which  follow  upon 
the  respective  species  it  is  recorded  whether 
the  male  birds  have  been  heard  in  song  or 


52  BIRDS   OF   THE 

not.  But  it  may  be  stated  that  generally 
they  are  in  song,  and  that  a  good  sugges- 
tion, if  not  a  full  realization,  of  what  the 
song  of  each  species  is  may  be  obtained.  To 
be  sure,  it  must  usually  be  heard  under  the 
disadvantages  of  noise,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
singer  may  not  be  as  intense  as  when  he  is 
on  his  nesting-ground ;  but  knowledge  and 
pleasure  untold  may  be  derived  by  availing 
of  the  opportunities  afforded,  and  in  calm- 
ness of  mind  becoming  attuned  to  the  happy 
life  and  the  sweet  expressions  of  it  which 
are  at  hand. 

One  feature  of  the  spring  and  summer 
bird-life  within  the  Garden  is  the  presence 
of  a  half-dozen  European  swans  upon  the 
pond.  These  have  been  introduced  in  re- 
cent years.  In  late  autumn  these  swans  are 
removed  to  winter  quarters.  Another  fea- 
ture which  has  manifested  itself  also  quite 
recently  is  the  permanent  residence  within 
the  Garden  of  a  considerable  flock  of 
pigeons,  which  have  adopted  a  Kentucky 
coffee-tree  standing  by  the  fern-grown 
rockery  as  headquarters.     These  pigeons 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  GARDEN     53 

roost  upon  the  branches  of  the  tree  and 
have  become  so  tame  that  they  alight  upon 
the  shoulders  and  arms  of  visitors  who 
come  to  feed  them  and  scarcely  remove 
themselves  out  of  the  way  of  passers-by. 
On  the  Common  a  similar  flock  lives  just 
within  the  grounds  near  the  Park  Street 
subway  station  and  affords  much  pleasure 
and  interest  to  visitors  who  bring  them 
food  and  linger  to  enjoy  their  beauty  and 
confiding  tameness. 

The  annotated  list  which  follows  this  in- 
troductory chapter  includes  the  names  of 
species  which  have  been  observed  in  the 
years  1900- 1908,  and  of  six  additional  spe- 
cies seen  by  other  observers  in  earlier  years, 
namely,  American  golden-eye,  American 
woodcock,  barred  owl,  saw-whet  owl,  belted 
kingfisher,  and  winter  wren  (the  last  in 
the  Granary  Burying-Ground) .  No  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  gather  older  re- 
cords, although  many  observations  must 
have  been  made,  perhaps  casually,  by  per- 
sons who,  always  moving  through  out-of- 
doors  with  their  eyes  and  ears  open  to 


54    BIRDS  OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

nature,  have  been  witnesses  of  interesting 
occurrences.  The  list  contains  the  names  of 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  North  American 
birds,  arranged  in  the  order  adopted  by  the 
American  Ornithologists'  Union  and  under 
the  nomenclature  most  recently  revised  by 
its  committee,  and  it  concludes  with  the 
names  of  two  introduced  species  and  two 
species  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere  repre- 
sented by  individual  birds  which  had  un- 
doubtedly escaped  from  captivity. 


ANNOTATED   LIST 

OF  THE 

BIRDS   OF   THE   BOSTON 
PUBLIC   GARDEN 

AND  INCIDENTALLY  OF  THE  COMMON 

IN   MIGRATION 
1900-1908 


I.  Herring  Gull 

Larus  argentatus 

Herring  Gulls,  not  as  migrants,  but  as 
winter  residents,  are  occasionally  seen  pass- 
ing over  northwestward  to  the  Charles 
River  Basin  and  inland  ponds,  sometimes  a 
single  bird  and  sometimes  a  dozen  or  twenty 
birds.  Very  infrequently  one  or  two  have 
been  seen  in  the  early  morning  flying  in  the 
opposite  direction.  On  April  25,  1906, 
thirty  were  seen  for  a  time  to  circle  over  the 
Garden.  Usually  the  occasional  passages 
over  continue  well  into  the  month  of  May. 
This  was  especially  the  case  in  1905,  when 
the  last  bird  noted  passed  over  northward 
in  the  morning  of  May  23. 

In  the  autumn,  year  by  year,  Herring 
Gulls  have  also  been  seen,  not  daily,  but 
occasionally,  as  in  the  spring.  The  earliest 
fall  records  are  of  one  in  flight  on  October 
13,  1905,  and  of  one  on  October  14,  1908. 


S8    BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

2.  American  Golden-eye 

Clangula  clangula  americana 

In  the  "Ornithologist  and  Oologist," 
1891,  voL  xvi,  p.  174,  is  the  following  note: 
"David  Hunt,  Jr.,  reports  that  a  Golden- 
eyed  Duck  was  in  the  pond  at  the  Public 
Garden,  Boston,  Mass.,  at  6  p.  m.  of  Sat- 
urday, November  31st  [1891].  On  ap- 
proach he  rose  and  flew  toward  the  river. 
The  identification  was  positive,  as  he  ap- 
proached within  fifty  yards.*' 

The  species  is  an  abundant  winter  resi- 
dent on  the  Charles  River  Basin. 

3.  Canada  Goose 

Branta  canadensis 

In  the  early  morning  of  October  22,  1907, 
a  flock  of  eight  Canada  Geese  passed  over 
the  Garden  at  a  comparatively  low  eleva- 
tion in  a  southward  direction,  flying  in  the 
characteristic  wedge-shaped  form.  They 
were  not  calling. 

No  other  record  of  the  species  has  been 
obtained. 


AMERICAN  WOODCOCK  59 

4.  Black-crowned  Night  Heron 

Nycticorax  nycticorax  ncBvius 

Two  Night  Herons  upon  two  occasions, 
May  20,  1903,  and  May  18,  1907,  flew  into 
the  Garden  and  about  the  pond  for  a  few 
minutes  and  were  gone.  The  species,  there- 
fore, is  only  a  casual  visitor.  The  visits  re- 
corded were  in  the  very  early  morning,  and 
on  one  of  the  occasions  the  weather  was 
cloudy. 

5.  American  Woodcock 

Philohela  minor 

Mr.  Bradford  Torrey  furnishes  this  gra- 
phic account  of  a  Woodcock  which  he  saw 
in  some  year  previous  to  1900. 

"I  once  saw  a  Woodcock  flying  down 
Beacon  Street,  just  in  front  of  the  second- 
story  windows.  It  was  on  a  Sunday  morning. 
He  was  under  full  steam  and  turned  into  a 
place  or  street  shortly  before  getting  down 
to  Charles  Street.  *T  was  a  queer  sight. 
He  was  close  to  the  houses,  as  I  remem- 
ber it,  over  the  sidewalk,  and,  I  should 


6o    BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

think,  must  have  felt  as  queer  as  he 
looked." 

In  his  essay  "On  Boston  Common"  Mr. 
Torrey  mentions  once  finding  the  body  of 
a  Woodcock  which  had  evidently  met  its 
death  against  an  electric  wire. 

No  recent  records  have  been  obtained. 

6.  Solitary  Sandpiper 

Helodromas  solitarius 

On  May  3,  1905,  and  again  on  May  23, 
1907,  a  Solitary  Sandpiper  has  come  into 
the  Garden  on  the  wing,  lit  upon  the  stone 
curbing  of  the  pond,  and  after  taking  two 
or  three  successive  flights  over  the  water 
has  departed,  having  made  only  a  few 
minutes'  stay.  These  very  brief  visits  sug- 
gest that  such  birds  may  come  into  the 
Garden  more  often  than  they  have  been 
recorded  and  pass  out  unobserved  after, 
it  may  be,  only  a  moment's  delay. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend  furnishes  me 
with  an  autumn  record  of  a  Solitary  Sand- 
piper in  the  Garden,  namely,  on  Septem- 
ber 27,  1905. 


THE   EUROPEAN   WHITE   BIRCH 


SPOTTED   SANDPIPER  6i 

7.  Spotted  Sandpiper 

Actitis  macularia 

In  five  of  the  nine  seasons  of  observa- 
tion the  Spotted  Sandpiper  has  been  re- 
corded; in  four  of  these  seasons  a  single 
bird  only  has  been  seen.  But  in  1907  there 
were  three  successive  visits  of  the  species; 
one  of  a  bird  on  May  9,  which  remained  a 
half-hour,  following  the  curbing  round  the 
pond  and  taking  flight  to  another  portion 
only  when  disturbed ;  another  of  a  bird  on 
May  13;  and  the  third  visit  was  of  two 
birds  on  May  25,  which  made  a  more  pro- 
longed stay  and  showed  little  disposition 
to  leave. 

On  other  occasions  the  departure  of  the 
visitant  has  followed  so  closely  upon  its 
entrance  that  there  has  been  opportunity 
to  view  it  only  two  or  three  times  in  its 
flights  over  the  water  and  clearly  identify 
it  before  it  was  gone. 

The  records  show  the  period  of  migra- 
tion of  the  Spotted  Sandpiper  through  the 
Garden  to  be  from  May  9  to  25. 


62    BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 
8.  Bob-white 

Colinus  virginianus 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend  furnishes  this 
interesting  record:  " I  saw  a  female  of  this 
species  in  the  Public  Garden  near  the 
Everett  statue  on  June  i6th,  1906.  The 
bird  was  wild  and  flew  to  the  protection  of 
some  bushes  when  approached." 

As  the  Garden  is  separated  from  the 
parks  of  the  Rack  Bay  district  and  beyond 
by  at  least  a  mile  of  Commonwealth 
Avenue,  it  is  surprising  that  this  bird 
found  its  way  to  the  heart  of  the  city. 

9.  Sharp-shinned  Hawk 

Accipiter  velox 

A  Sharp-shinned  Hawk  was  seen  flying 
over  the  Garden  on  May  13,  1907. 

Doubtless  similar  opportunities  of  re- 
cording a  hawk  of  one  of  the  more  common 
species  have  occurred  from  time  to  time 
and  have  been  missed,  because  the  observ- 
er's attention  has  been  concentrated  within 
the  Garden. 


BROAD-WINGED   HAWK  63 

In  furtherance  of  this  idea  I  may  state 
what  Mr.  Francis  H.  Allen  communicates 
to  me.  He  writes  that  when  he  saw  the 
barred  owl  on  the  Common,  November  5, 
1888,  there  was  a  small  hawk  in  the  next 
tree  to  it,  which  he  thought  was  a  Sharp- 
shinned  Hawk,  but  that  he  did  not  identify 
it  positively.  He  further  states:  "I  have 
also  seen  a  probable  goshawk,  one  or  two 
small  falcons,  and  some  buteos,  none  of 
which  were  positively  identified  as  to 
species." 

10.  Broad-winged  Hawk 

Buleo  platypterus 

On  the  morning  of  April  24,  1905,  the 
grackles  were  noisily  scolding  in  a  group 
of  trees  beside  the  pond,  and  upon  investi- 
gation the  cause  was  found  to  be  the  pre- 
sence of  a  Broad-winged  Hawk,  perched  in 
an  elm  about  fifty  feet  from  the  ground  and 
entirely  indifferent  to  their  cries  and  my 
near  presence.  At  length,  after  a  satisfying 
scrutiny  of  the  bird,  I  dislodged  it  by  per- 
sistent hand-clapping;  but  it  flew  only  a 


64    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

short  distance  to  another  perch.  The  same 
thing  was  repeated,  and  still  the  bird  did 
not  fly  from  the  Garden.  The  characteristic 
traits  of  this  species  of  hawk  were  well 
brought  out,  therefore,  by  its  manifestation 
of  sluggishness  and  an  absence  of  suspicious 
fear,  also  by  its  short  flights.  It  prolonged 
its  stay  beyond  my  own. 

II.  American  Sparrow  Hawk 

Falco  sparverius 

On  one  occasion  only,  in  the  early  morn- 
ing of  May  9,  1908,  has  a  Sparrow  Hawk 
been  seen  within  the  Garden.  It  was  found 
perching  high  in  the  tall  gingko  tree  which 
stands  near  the  Ether  Monument,  and  it 
did  not  take  wing  for  perhaps  ten  minutes, 
when  it  flew  off  over  the  line  of  Common- 
wealth Avenue  in  the  direction  of  the  Fens, 
where  it  has  been  found  to  be  a  usual  bird 
during  the  winter  season. 


SAW-WHET  OWL  65 

12.  Barred  Owl 

Strix  varia 

Mr.  Francis  H.  Allen  furnishes  a  record 
of  a  Barred  Owl.  The  bird,  he  states,  was 
seen  on  the  Tremont  Street  mall  of  the 
Common,  November  5,  1888. 

Mr.  Bradford  Torrey's  interesting  ac- 
count of  an  owl  on  the  Common  in  his  essay 
"On  Boston  Common"  records  the  pre- 
sence of  another  owl  on  a  cloudy  November 
afternoon,  probably  in  one  of  the  years  just 
preceding  1883,  whether  a  Barred  Owl  or 
not  is  not  stated. 

13.  Saw- WHET  Owl 

Glaux  acadicus 

Mr.  John  H.  Hardy,  Jr.,  writes  me  that 
in  the  fall  of  1892,  probably  in  the  month 
of  November,  he  saw  an  Acadian,  or  Saw- 
whet,  Owl  in  one  of  the  elms  on  Beacon 
Street  near  the  corner  of  Charles  Street. 
Mr.  Hardy  says :  "  A  crowd  was  watching  a 
boy  climb  the  tree  to  get  the  bird,  and  really 
the  fellow  almost  succeeded,  but  the  owl 
gave  him  a  cold  stare  and  flew  away." 


66    BIRDS  OF  THE   PUBLIC  GARDEN 
14.  Screech  Owl 

Otus  asio 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
December  30,  1908,  Mr.  Eugene  E.  Caduc 
sent  me  word  that  there  was  a  small  owl  on 
the  Common  near  to  Joy  Street,  and  very 
kindly  kept  the  bird  in  view  until  I  could 
reach  the  spot  and  designate  its  name.  It 
proved  to  be  a  Screech  Owl  of  the  gray 
phase.  It  occupied  a  horizontal  bough  of  a 
linden  tree  which  stands  by  the  footpath 
from  Spruce  Street  to  Winter  Street.  The 
afternoon  was  evenly  clouded,  and  against 
the  gray  sky  the  form  of  the  little  owl  with 
ears  erect  was  clearly  silhouetted.  It  did 
not  move  in  the  space  of  an  hour's  time, 
except  once  or  twice  to  turn  the  head  a 
little  sidewise.  One  could  see  the  chilly 
breezes  blow  its  feathers,  and  it  stood  ap- 
parently contented  and  happy,  giving  no 
attention  to  a  little  group  of  persons  who 
stood  wondering  beneath  it  or  to  passers-by 
who  looked  upon  it  with  an  interest  which 
the   rarity   of   the   occurrence   awakened. 


YELLOW-BILLED  CUCKOO  67 

After  I  had  departed  Mr.  Caduc  and  his 
friend  Mr.  Potter  remained  and  saw  it 
take  two  short  flights  in  the  direction  of  the 
Union  Clubhouse  and  then  a  longer  flight 
down  towards  the  Frog  Pond.  The  dark- 
ness of  evening  had  then  fallen  upon  the 
Common. 

Mr.  William  Brewster  in  his  "Birds  of 
the  Cambridge  Region"  says:  "Even  that 
densely  populated  part  of  Boston  known  as 
the  Back  Bay  district  is  now  occasionally 
invaded  by  these  daring  and  adaptive  little 
owls ;  Dr.  Arthur  P.  Chadbourne  tells  me 
that  he  heard  one  wailing  in  the  trees  on 
Marlborough  Street  during  the  evening  of 
January  31,  1902,  and  late  in  December, 
1903,  my  assistant,  Mr.  R.  A.  Gilbert,  saw 
another  which  had  just  been  caught  on  the 
doorstep  of  a  house  on  Commonwealth 
Avenue.'* 

15.  Yellow-billed  Cuckoo 

Coccyzus  americanus 

The  song  of  this  species  of  cuckoo  came 
several  times  distinctly  to  the  ear  in  the 


68    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

forenoon  of  May  19,  1907,  a  day  which  sur- 
passed all  other  days  but  one  in  the  series  of 
years  in  respect  to  the  number  of  migrant 
birds  within  the  Garden  inclosure.  The 
temperature  was  80°,  following  a  warm 
night,  and  the  migration  movement  had 
been  very  large.  With  sixteen  species  of 
warblers,  numbering  seventy-four  recorded 
individuals,  had  come  many  catbirds,  some 
late  purple  finches,  and  even  a  blue  jay. 
The  Cuckoo  appears  to  have  been  drawn 
irresistibly  into  this  mixed  company.  It 
must  be  regarded  as  a  rare  bird  in  the 
Garden.  This  is  the  only  record  which  has 
been  obtained. 

16.  Black-billed  Cuckoo 

Coccyzus  erythrophthalmus 

One  record,  and  one  reaord  only,  of  this 
species  of  cuckoo  has  been  obtained  by  me. 
On  May  30,  1908,  a  Black-billed  Cuckoo 
was  seen  sitting  quietly  on  a  bough  of  the 
large  white  willow  which  stands  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  pond.  At  first  the 
bird  sat  crosswise  of  the  bough,  later  hori- 


BELTED   KINGFISHER  69 

zontally  along  it.  I  saw  it  eat  a  near  cater- 
pillar, but  otherwise  it  was  inactive.  It 
was  also  silent.  But  the  close  approach 
which  I  was  able  to  make  revealed  it  to  be 
a  black-billed  bird. 

Mr.  E.  E.  Caduc  informs  me  that  he  saw 
a  Black-billed  Cuckoo  daily  in  the  Garden 
between  June  8  and  17  of  the  same  year, 
that  it  was  always  seen  in  one  of  two  or 
three  maples  near  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  pond,  that  he  searched  carefully  for  a 
possible  mate,  thinking  that  a  nesting  of  the 
species  might  be  going  forward,  but  that  he 
found  none,  and  that  the  bird  was  not  seen 
after  June  17,  although  he  continued  his 
daily  visits  up  to  July  3.  The  bird,  he  says, 
not  infrequently  gave  its  call. 

17.  Belted  Kingfisher 

Ceryle  alcyon 

Mr.  Francis  H.  Allen  states  that  he  saw 
a  Kingfisher  flying  over  the  Granary  Bury- 
ing-Ground,  and  probably  also  visible  from 
the  Common,  on  September  21,  1896. 

Mr.  Bradford  Torrey  records  that  twice 


70    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

in  the  fall  he  found  a  Kingfisher  about  the 
Frog  Pond.  *'Once  the  fellow  sprung  his 
watchman's  rattle."  These  occurrences 
were  previous  to  the  year  1883. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend  writes  me  that 
he  has  in  his  collection  the  skin  of  a  female 
Kingfisher  which  was  found  dead  on  Marl- 
borough Street  near  Clarendon  Street  on 
October  5,  1907,  the  bird  apparently  hav- 
ing been  killed  by  striking  the  house. 

18.  Hairy  Woodpecker 

Dryobates.  villosus 

In  two  spring  seasons  a  Hairy  Wood- 
pecker, a  male  bird  each  time,  has  made  a 
lengthened  stay  in  the  Garden,  occasionally 
passing  over  to  the  Common  and  being 
noted  there  when  not  seen  in  the  Garden. 
The  first  visit  was  of  a  bird  which  appeared 
March  27,  1904,  and  remained  until  April 
18 ;  the  second  visit  was  of  a  bird  which  re- 
mained from  March  19  to  28,  1905.  Both 
birds  at  times  gave  their  long  rattle  calls. 

Two  autumn  and  winter  records  have 
also  been  obtained,  one  of  a  bird  in  the 


DOWNY  WOODPECKER  71 

middle  of  November,  1903,  which  remained 
about  a  week,  and  one  in  late  December, 
1904,  on  the  Common.  This  was  probably 
the  bird  which  Mr.  F.  H.  Allen  informs  me 
he  saw  on  January  3,  1905.  In  both  of  these 
instances  also  the  birds  were  males. 

19.  Downy  Woodpecker 

Dryobates  pubescens  medianus 

One  visit  of  a  Downy  Woodpecker  to  the 
Garden  covered  three  days,  April  4  to  6, 
1903 ;  another  visit  five  days,  April  3  to  7, 
1906 ;  a  third  visit  was  of  a  female  bird  on 
April  21,  1906.  In  1908,  a  Downy  Wood- 
pecker appeared  in  the  Garden  on  March  14 
and  another  on  March  20.  The  rattle  call 
was  often  heard  in  these  several  instances, 
which  constitute  all  the  spring  appearances 
of  the  species. 

In  October  the  visits  of  the  Downy  have 
been  more  prolonged  and  somewhat  more 
frequent,  and  the  stay  of  one  bird  extended 
to  November  17,  in  1907,  when  it  was  seen 
on  the  Common.  The  species  is  not  a 
regular  visitant  to  the  Garden. 


72    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC  GARDEN 
20.  Yellow-bellied  Sapsucker 

Sphyrapicus  varius 

There  have  been  four  spring  visits  of  the 
Sapsucker  in  the  Garden.  The  arrival  of 
the  species  on  the  first  three  occasions  was 
each  time  on  April  24  or  25 ;  namely,  two 
birds  were  noted  in  1903  for  a  single  day; 
two  male  birds  were  seen  in  1905,  one  re- 
maining to  the  third  day ;  and  a  female  bird 
was  seen  on  April  25  and  26  in  1906.  In 
1908  a  male  bird  appeared  on  April  17  and 
was  not  seen  the  next  day. 

In  October,  1908,  two  Sapsuckers  were 
seen  in  the  Garden  on  the  eighth  day,  one 
remaining  to  the  next  day ;  and  another,  a 
male  bird,  appeared  on  the  nineteenth  and 
was  seen  again  the  day  following. 

The  Sapsucker,  therefore,  proves  to  be 
as  frequent  a  visitor  to  the  Garden  in 
the  spring  as  the  downy  woodpecker,  but 
visitants  remain  a  shorter  time.  The  only 
autumn  records  are  those  of  1908. 


NORTHERN   FLICKER  73 

21.  Northern  Flicker 

Colaptes  auratus  luteus 

The  Flicker,  or  Yellow-Hammer,  is  a 
regular  visitor  to  the  Garden,  and  usually 
several  birds  come  each  season.  There  have 
been  comparatively  few  March  records  of 
the  species.  Many  of  the  occurrences  are 
of  a  single  bird.  Once,  however,  in  1906, 
on  April  14,  three  birds  were  seen  and  again 
seen  the  day  following.  Several  times  a 
visit  has  been  prolonged  ten  or  twelve  days, 
especially  in  the  case  of  visitors  in  April. 
Not  infrequently  the  strong,  lusty  song  has 
been  heard,  and  the  sharp  call  also.  In  the 
case  of  a  bird  which  remained  to  May  23, 
in  1906,  the  song  came  one  morning  from 
the  roof  of  the  Sears  residence  on  Arling- 
ton Street.  The  visitors  often  pass  over  to 
the  Common  and  back  again.  Occasionally 
they  drop  to  the  ground  and  feed,  but  are 
generally  upon  the  larger  trees  and  often 
fly  to  the  willows  on  the  island. 

In  evidence  of  the  nesting  of  Flickers 
on  the  Common,  Dr.  Manning  K.  Rand 


74    BIRDS   OF   THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

writes  me  that  in  the  spring  of  1907  he  saw 
two  or  three  young  birds  going  through  a 
sort  of  dance  together  on  a  grass-plot  at 
the  left  of  the  Joy  Street  path  from  Beacon 
Street.  Dr.  Rand  says:  "I  do  not  know 
where  they  nested.  They  were  young  birds 
because  they  were  not  fully  feathered  and 
still  had  some  of  the  down  on  their  heads 
sticking  through  the  feathers."  Mr.  Chester 
S.  Day,  I  am  informed,  in  the  same  season 
observed  an  old  bird  coming  out  of  a  nest- 
hole  in  the  same  section  of  the  Common. 
Mr.  E.  E.  Caduc  informs  me  that  he  saw 
a  Flicker  on  the  grass  in  the  Garden  on 
July  2,  1908,  and  that  two  Flickers  were 
seen  on  the  Common  at  intervals  during 
the  summer  of  that  year. 

Quite  regularly  in  October  and  Novem- 
ber Flickers  are  again  present.  The  stay 
of  the  autumn  birds  is  often  quite  ex- 
tended. One  was  seen  occasionally  on  the 
Common  in  1907  into  late  December.  This 
bird  was  seen  in  the  Garden  on  December 
16  by  Mr.  Glover  M.  Allen.  In  1908,  Mr. 
Caduc  informs  me  that  he  saw  four  Flickers 


NIGHTHAWK  75 

together  on  the  Common  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  burying-ground  on  December  4  to  6. 
I  saw  pne  on  Monument  Hill  in  the  morn- 
ing of  December  30  of  that  year,  and  the 
bird  was  seen  by  Mr.  Caduc  on  January 
4  and  5,  1909. 

22.    NiGHTHAWK 

Chordeiles  virginianus 

One  or  two  Nighthawks  are  heard  regu- 
larly each  season  calling  from  the  sky  over 
Beacon  Hill  or  the  Back  Bay.  The  call  has 
sometimes  been  heard  and  the  bird  seen 
overhead  in  the  early  morning,  while  at- 
tention was  being  given  to  the  songsters 
within  the  Garden.  The  middle  of  May  is 
the  usual  time  for  the  appearance  of  the 
species. 

In  1908  a  Nighthawk  was  heard  over 
Beacon  Hill  in  the  evening  of  May  24,  and 
the  next  morning  between  three  and  three 
forty-five  o'clock  was  constantly  calling. 
The  following  morning,  May  26,  one  was 
heard  up  to  four-thirty  o'clock,  and  in  the 
early  afternoon  of  that  day,  two  o'clock, 


76  BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

was  in  the  sky  over  the  houses,  elevated  not 
very  high  above  them,  and  calHng  at  regu- 
lar intervals.  This  was  a  very  warni  day 
of  84°  temperature  in  the  shade  at  the  time, 
and  the  sun  shone  hot  in  a  clear  sky.  The 
calls  were  given  also  in  the  quiet  of  the 
evening.  Two  birds  were  heard  in  the  even- 
ing of  May  30. 

Nighthawks  are  known  to  have  regu- 
larly nested  on  the  flat  graveled  roofs  of 
buildings  in  the  Back  Bay  district  in  re- 
cent years. 

23.  Chimney  Swift 

ChcBtura  pelagica 

By  the  middle  of  May  from  one  or  two 
to  ten  or  twelve  Chimney  Swifts  may  be 
seen  scurrying  overhead  in  their  rapid 
flights,  appearing  and  disappearing  and  re- 
appearing, uttering  their  hurried  twitter- 
ing notes  in  greeting  of  the  day. 

The  earliest  record  is  of  a  bird  on  May  i, 
1907;  in  1902  one  was  seen  on  May  6. 
But  usually  the  appearance  of  the  species 
dates    from   May    13   or   14,   when   com- 


RUBY-THROATED   HUMMINGBIRD     77 

monly  half  a  dozen  Swifts  may  be  seen 
and  heard. 

In  the  morning  of  May  26,  1908,  thirty 
Swifts  were  counted  in  the  air  over  the 
Garden,  and  on  June  i  a  half-dozen  were 
still  about. 

24.  Ruby-throated  Hummingbird 

Trochilus  colubris 

I  have  found  the  Hummingbird  a  very 
infrequent  visitant  to  the  Garden.  Indeed, 
in  two  seasons  only  have  I  records  of  the 
species,  namely,  1905  and  1908.  In  the 
former  year  on  May  13  and  again  on  May 
18  a  single  bird  was  observed  in  flight,  and 
on  May  21a  female  bird  was  seen  perching. 
In  1908,  on  May  24,  a  Hummingbird 
visited  the  Garden. 

Friends  have  two  or  three  times  men- 
tioned seeing  a  Hummingbird  in  other 
years,  but  later  in  the  season  than  my  ob- 
servations had  extended. 


78    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 
25.  Kingbird 

Tyrannus  tyrannus 

The  Kingbird  has  been  recorded  in  seven 
of  the  nine  seasons.  The  species  has  usually 
first  appeared  between  May  15  and  18,  re- 
presented by  a  single  bird,  and  commonly 
this  bird  has  remained  but  one  day,  some- 
times two  days.  Then  a  second  migration 
has  occurred  five  or  six  days  later,  on  May 
20  to  25,  usually  a  single  bird  appearing 
and  for  one  day  only.  But  on  May  20, 
1907,  the  unusual  occurrence  of  five  King- 
birds present  together,  and  in  one  tree, 
was  recorded.  None  remained  to  the  next 
day.  The  earliest  appearance  of  the  species 
was  on  May  9,  1906,  one  bird.  Mr.  Caduc 
informs  me  that  he  saw  two  Kingbirds  on 
the  Common,  May  31,  1908.  They  did  not 
remain.   The  song  has  been  heard. 

26.  Phcebe 

Sayornis  phcebe 

The  Phoebe  is  an  infrequent  visitor  to 
the  Garden.  The  species  has  been  recorded 


WOOD   PEWEE  79 

in  the  spring  in  four  seasons  only ;  namely, 
one  bird  on  April  17,  1902 ;  three  birds  on 
April  5  and  6,  1903 ;  one  bird  on  March  29, 
1905;  and  three  successive  visitants  in 
1908,  one  on  March  29  and  30,  one  on  April 
6,  and  one  on  April  21  to  23.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  the  three  birds  in  the  Garden,  in 
1903,  there  were  two  others  on  the  Com- 
mon. The  migration  period  of  the  Phoebe 
has  extended,  therefore,  from  March  29 
(twice)  to  April  23.  The  birds  have  in- 
variably been  silent. 

Twice  in  the  autumn  the  species  has  been 
recorded :  in  the  Garden  one  bird  on  Octo- 
ber 20,  1901 ;  on  the  Common  one  bird  on 
October  13,  1907. 

27.  Wood  Pewee 

Myiochanes  virens 

One  or  two  Wood  Pewees  have  usually 
been  recorded  in  the  Garden  each  season. 
The  earliest  appearance  of  the  species  was 
on  May  16,  in  1905.  The  latest  date  of 
arrival  was  of  a  bird  on  May  26,  1906.  The 
visitant  has  always  been  in  song  and,  ex- 


8o    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

cept  on  one  occasion,  has  remained  but  one 
day.  The  exception  was  a  Pewee  in  1900, 
which  remained  five  days,  and  sang  each 
day,  from  May  18  to  22,  and  then  disap- 
peared. In  1908  two  Wood  Pewees  visited 
the  Garden  on  May  24,  one  in  song  and  the 
other  not.  They  were  not  subsequently 
seen  or  heard. 

28.  Yellow-bellied  Flycatcher 

Empidonax  flaviventris 

In  two  seasons  only  has  a  Yellow-bellied 
Flycatcher  been  recorded,  namely,  in  1905 
and  1908.  In  the  former  season  two  birds 
appeared  on  May  18,  and  while  one  dis- 
appeared at  once,  the  other,  presumably 
the  same  bird,  remained  five  days.  Again, 
on  May  27  of  the  same  year  a  bird  of  this 
species  was  seen. 

In  1908  one  visited  the  Garden  on  May 
24,  for  that  day  only.  In  these  several  in- 
stances the  birds  were  silent. 


LEAST   FLYCATCHER  8i 

29.  Least  Flycatcher 

Empidonax  minimus 

Every  year  of  observation  the  Least  Fly- 
catcher, or  Chebec,  has  been  present  in  the 
Garden.  There  have  been  nineteen  occur- 
rences of  the  species  in  the  nine  years.  In 
1906  there  was  but  one  visitant.  In  1907 
there  were  three  records.  The  eadiest  ap- 
pearance of  the  species  was  on  April  29, 
1908,  one  bird.  The  usual  time  of  arrival  is 
between  May  12  and  15.  A  second  wave 
of  migration  has  brought  others  each  sea- 
son between  May  17  and  20. 

In  several  instances  the  stay  of  a  visitant 
has  covered  nearly  or  quite  a  week.  In 
1902  a  bird  was  present  from  May  17  to 
23,  seven  days.  In  1907  one  was  present 
from  May  19  to  24,  six  days.  In  1908  two 
birds  were  singing  high  up  in  the  tops  of 
the  tall  trees  on  May  24.  None  in  any 
season  has  remained  later  than  the  last- 
mentioned  date.  The  species  is  usually  in 
song. 


82    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 
30.  Blue  Jay 

Cyanocitta  cristata 

The  Blue  Jay  on  comparatively  late  mi- 
gration dates  has  quite  regularly  made  its 
appearance  in  the  Garden,  giving  its  loud 
**  jay"  cries.  It  has  appeared  in  the  larger 
migration  movements,  and  generally  in  the 
middle  of  May  and  later  rather  than  in 
April.  I  have  records  of  but  two  April 
appearances,  namely,  in  the  middle  of  the 
month;  while  a  Jay  has  come  with  the 
warblers,  flycatchers,  and  later  sparrows 
several  seasons  on  the  date  May  14,  and 
at  other  times  between  May  18  and  26,  a 
single  bird  in  every  instance.  Mr.  E.  E. 
Caduc  informs  me  that  occasionally  in  the 
month  of  June,  1908,  the  cry  of  a  Jay  came 
to  his  ear  while  he  was  in  the  Garden. 

There  have  been  three  October  records 
of  a  Jay  present,  in  1905,  1906,  and  1908. 

I  know  of  the  presence  of  the  Blue  Jay 
in  the  Garden  only  at  these  migration 
seasons,  and  then  only  transitorily,  a  bird 
seldom  being  noted  a  second  day. 


AMERICAN   CROW  83 

31.  American  Crow 

Corvus  brachyrhynchos 

The  presence  and  call  of  the  Crow  at  in- 
tervals in  all  of  the  three  months  of  the 
spring  migration  have  regularly  been  noted. 
Some  seasons  a  single  bird  has  appeared 
for  one  day  only.  In  other  seasons  a  Crow 
or  a  pair  has  been  noted  intermittently  for 
a  considerable  period.  In  April,  1907,  two 
were  repeatedly  seen  during  the  first  half  of 
the  month,  and  one  during  the  second  half ; 
but  there  was  no  May  record  of  either. 

In  May,  1900,  as  noted  by  Mr.  WilHam 
Brewster  in  his  **  Birds  of  the  Cambridge 
Region,"  a  pair  of  Crows  nested  in  the 
rear  of  a  house  on  Beacon  Street,  near  the 
Somerset  Club.  Mr.  H.  A.  Purdie  fur- 
nishes the  following  account  of  the  nest- 
ing: "The  nest  was  built  in  an  old,  tall 
weeping  willow  which  stands  in  the  stable- 
yard,  and  was  placed  high  on  one  of  the 
larger  limbs.  Here  three  young  were  reared. 
Two  of  them  were  taken  from  the  nest  and 
given  to  a  person  in  a  suburb,  who  kept 


84    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

them  as  pets  a  while  and  then  gave  them 
their  liberty.  The  third  nestling  fell  to  the 
ground  and  was  cared  for  at  the  Puritan 
Club  on  Spruce  Street.  The  nest,  or  a  por- 
tion of  it,  remained  in  position  for  a  long 
time,  showing  it  was  well  constructed.  The 
old  birds  were  occasionally  heard  cawing 
and  seen  flying  over  the  Common,  Louis- 
burg  Square,  and  its  vicinity.  Presumably 
they  obtained  some  of  their  food  at  low  tide 
on  the  flats  back  of  Brimmer  and  Charles 
streets."  During  the  month  of  May  one 
or  the  other  of  this  pair  was  often  seen  or 
heard  by  me  about  the  Garden.  In  1904, 
and  again  in  1905,  one  and  sometimes  two 
Crows  were  seen  quite  up  to  the  end  of 
May,  but  the  nesting-site  was  not  deter- 
mined. 

In  the  autumn,  also,  one  or  sometimes 
two  Crows  have  been  seen,  usually  flying 
in  from  the  westward,  and  sometimes  pass- 
ing over  and  at  other  times  alighting  and 
perching  within  the  Garden.  In  the  latter 
part  of  October,  1905,  the  repetitions  of  a 
Crow's  coming  day  by  day  soon  after  sun- 


BOBOLINK  85 

rise  indicated  that  they  might  be  the  ex- 
cursions of  the  same  bird,  probably  from 
the  Fens  or  Brookhne.  Again,  in  October, 
1908,  there  were  similarly  repeated  visits, 
often  of  two  Crows  which  came  from  the 
same  direction  and  continued  their  excur- 
sions to  the  Garden  in  this  way  up  to  No- 
vember 7,  often  alighting  and  calling. 

Mr.  E.  E.  Caduc  on  December  26  of  that 
year  saw  one  Crow  silently  perching  in  the 
Garden  and  another  on  the  Common. 

The  Crow,  therefore,  appears  as  a  mi- 
grant in  or  over  the  Garden,  as  an  excur- 
sionist from  the  larger  parks  and  suburban 
towns,  and  once  has  been  present  as  a  breed- 
ing species  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  Common. 

32.  Bobolink 

Dolichonyx  oryzivorus 

It  was  not  until  the  year  1907  that  a 
Bobolink  was  seen  within  the  Garden. 
Then  in  the  early  morning  of  May  14,  soon 
after  my  entrance,  the  joyous  song  of  this 
species  came  to  my  ear,  and  the  songster 


86    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

was  seen  in  flight  over  the  brilliant  tulip- 
beds  of  the  centre  path,  —  seen  none  too 
soon,  for  he  was  quickly  gone. 

But  again,  on  the  morning  of  May  20, 
the  experience  was  repeated,  except  that 
the  singer  remained  to  take  several  flights 
and  move  about  upon  the  grass.  Both 
visits,  however,  were  fleeting,  and  both  oc- 
curred upon  days  of  migration-flights,  when 
large  numbers  of  migrant  birds  had  ar- 
rived. 

Mr.  Bradford  Torrey  states  in  his  essay 
"On  Boston  Common":  *'I  once  heard  a 
Bobolink  sing  in  our  Garden  (the  only  one 
I  ever  saw  there)."  Of  this  bird  he  writes 
me,  **The  Bobolink  was  not  far  from  the 
Washington  monument,  and  I  remember 
still  how  surprised  and  delighted  I  was  to 
see  him." 

33.    COWBIRD 

Molothrus  ater 

No  Cowbird  had  been  noted  within  the 
area  of  the  Garden  or  the  Common  until 
the  season  of  1908.    On  March  29  of  that 


COWBIRD  87 

year  Mr.  Glover  M.  Allen  writes  me  that 
he  saw  a  Cowbird  in  the  Garden  near  the 
pond. 

In  the  early  morning  of  April  7  of  the 
same  year  I  heard  the  characteristic  cow- 
bird  whistle  from  a  tree  on  the  Common. 
It  was  the  day  which  brought  the  first  ves- 
per sparrow,  the  first  swamp  sparrow,  and 
the  first  hermit  thrush  of  the  season  to  the 
grounds  and  contributed  to  the  number  of 
song  and  fox  sparrows  which  were  present. 
The  whistles  were  heard  but  a  few  times, 
when  the  bird  took  wing  and  flew  away. 

In  the  winter  of  1904-05  a  male  Cowbird 
roosted  nightly  with  the  house  sparrows 
in  the  King's  Chapel  Burying-Ground, 
where,  as  all  Bostonians  know,  the  sparrows 
congregate  in  vast  numbers  to  spend  the 
night  in  the  few  trees  standing  therein, 
measurably  protected  by  the  walls  which 
rise  around  it.  Mr.  F.  P.  Spalding  in  the 
engineering  department  at  the  City  Hall 
discovered  the  bird  on  November  16,  a  date 
which  would  indicate  that  it  was  a  ''  left- 
over." I  saw  it  upon  November  25  and  De- 


88    BIRDS  OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

cember  2, 1904,  and  January  10,  February  i, 
March  i  and  24,  and  April  3,  1905.  The  bird 
daily  went  forth  with  the  sparrows,  as  they 
scattered  in  the  morning  to  their  feeding- 
grounds,  some  no  doubt  going  quite  a  dis- 
tance from  City  Hall,  but  it  was  never  seen 
again  until  at  the  sunset  hour  with  the  re- 
assembling of  the  host  he  again  reappeared 
and  took  a  perch  for  the  night.  Mr.  Spal- 
ding states  that  its  arrival  among  the  spar- 
rows was  frequently  made  known  by  the 
very  loud  chirping  of  the  sparrows  that  had 
previously  arrived,  and  one  was  safe  in  say- 
ing, **  The  bird  has  come,"  and  upon  look- 
ing out  of  the  window  it  would  be  seen 
among  the  largest  bunch  of  sparrows.  His 
final  disappearance,  which  probably  was  on 
April  4,  occurred  at  the  time  in  the  spring 
when  migrants  of  his  own  species  were  ar- 
riving in  the  country  fields  and  pastures, 
and  doubtless  he  found  companions  of  his 
own  kind  to  join  and  reentered  into  the 
joys  of  Hfe  with  them. 


RED-WINGED   BLACKBIRD  89 

34.  Red-winged  Blackbird 

Agelaius  phceniceus 

Upon  no  day  has  more  than  a  single  Red- 
winged  Blackbird  been  recorded  within  the 
Garden;  but  usually  there  have  been  sev- 
eral successive  visits  of  a  bird  during  each 
season.  The  earliest  appearances  of  the 
species  have  been  on  March  26,  1907,  and 
on  March  30,  1908.  There  have  been  but 
five  April  records.  Most  of  the  visits  have 
been  in  May,  and  all,  excepting  in  one  in- 
stance, have  been  made  by  a  male  bird 
which  has  flown  in,  it  may  be,  from  the  Fens, 
and,  after  taking  a  lofty  perch  upon  one  of 
the  trees  standing  by  the  pond,  has  sung 
freely  for  a  brief  time  and  then  retired 
again.  I  have  not  found  a  bird  remaining 
during  any  considerable  portion  of  a  day  or 
even  while  I  completed  my  morning  round. 
It  may  be,  therefore,  that  these  May  ap- 
pearances of  a  Red-wing  are  commonly 
morning  excursions  from  a  chosen  neigh- 
boring haunt ;  for  sometimes  upon  four  or 
five  mornings  in  succession  such  brief  visits 


90    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

have  been  paid,  presumably  by  the  same 
bird.  The  visitors  in  almost  every  instance 
sing  and  thus  appeal  rather  to  the  ear  than 
to  the  eye  of  the  observer ;  for  they  do  not 
fly  through  or  about  the  Garden,  but,  com- 
ing through  the  upper  air,  alight  in  a  tree- 
top  and  there  attract  attention  by  their 
singing.  They  go  in  the  same  manner,  ris- 
ing well  into  the  air  and  flying  off  over  the 
house-roofs  in  the  direction  of  the  Fens. 
I  have  but  one  record  of  a  female  Red- 
wing in  the  Garden,  namely,  on  May  2, 
1902. 

35.  Baltimore  Oriole 

Icterus  galbula 

The  Baltimore  Oriole,  or  Hangbird,  is  one 
of  the  very  few  summer  residents  of  the 
Garden,  never  failing  to  nest  upon  some  of 
the  slender,  hanging  boughs  of  the  elms. 
The  earliest  arrival  of  the  species  in  the 
Garden  was  on  May  5,  1905,  when  two 
male  birds  were  singing  in  the  early  morn- 
ing. The  latest  arrival  was  in  1907,  namely, 
on  May  14.  The  usual  time  of  the  Oriole^s 


BALTIMORE  ORIOLE  91 

appearance  has  been  between  May  8  and 
12,  in  four  of  the  nine  seasons  the  arrival 
having  been  on  May  9.  The  males  precede 
the  females,  although  sometimes  they  are 
but  a  single  day  in  advance. 

Two  or  three  pairs  have  proved  to  be  the 
quota  each  season  for  the  Garden.  But  in 
1908  four  nests  were  constructed.  Other 
pairs  nest  on  the  Common.  On  one  occa- 
sion, May  II,  1905,  seven  males  and  three 
females  were  present  together.  The  extra 
males,  however,  retired,  as  but  three  nests 
were  built.  Usually  no  more  are  present 
upon  any  day  than  have  come  to  remain. 
The  nest-bui!ding  follows  quickly  after  the 
arrival  of  the  females. 

In  1908  a  female  Oriole  started  her  nest 
upon  a  slender  bough  of  an  elm  on  the  Bea- 
con Street  mall,  but  she  was  rudely  frus- 
trated in  her  home-making  by  a  pair  of 
house  sparrows,  which  so  assiduously  built 
upon  the  half-made  nest  of  the  Oriole  as  a 
foundation  that  she  could  not  proceed  with 
her  more  delicate  and  painstaking  weaving 
and  was  forced  to  select  another  site. 


92    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

One  of  the  nests  of  1908  was  hung  from 
the  bough  of  a  willow  which  stands  by  the 
boat-landing.  The  bough  selected  was  in 
the  top  of  the  tree.  Evidences  do  not  re- 
main in  the  autumn  that  the  several  pairs 
have  built  a  second  nest;  for,  when  the 
trees  become  bare  of  leaves,  only  the  nests 
which  had  been  observed  in  the  process  of 
construction  in  May  are  to  be  seen. 

The  species  has  disappeared  in  the  au- 
tumn before  the  time  when  my  observa- 
tions have  been  resumed.  But  Mr.  Maurice 
C.  Blake  furnishes  the  record  of  a  female 
Oriole  present  in  the  Garden  on  September 
8,  1905. 

36.  Rusty  Blackbird 

Euphagus  carolinus 

Usually  one  Rusty,  and  that  commonly  a 
male,  appears  in  the  Garden  each  season, 
but  sometimes  two  successively.  The  visit 
is  very  transitory.  I  have  no  record  of 
the  continuance  of  one  to  the  second  day. 
The  birds  usually  follow  round  the  margin 
of  the  pond,  either  upon  the  curbing  or 


BRONZED  CRACKLE  93 

below  it  upon  the  shore  in  case  of  low  water. 
Occasionally  in  all  instances  the  character- 
istic, explosive  whistle  of  the  species  has 
been  heard. 

The  earliest  recorded  bird  was  a  male  on 
March  23,  1907 ;  the  latest  a  male  bird  on 
May  13,  1902,  and  on  the  same  day  in  1908. 
There  have  been  five  visitants  in  early 
April.  The  only  instance  of  the  presence  of 
two  birds  together  was  on  April  3,  1908, 
both  males.  A  female  bird  came  on  May  7, 
1901,  and  one  was  on  the  Common  April 
23,  1902. 

37.  Bronzed  Crackle 

Quiscalus  quiscula  csneus 

The  Bronzed  Crackle,  or  Crow  Blackbird, 
was  about  beginning  its  occupancy  of  the 
Carden  as  a  summer  resident,  it  would  be 
surmised,  when  observations  were  begun 
there  in  1900 ;  for  the  presence  of  two  pairs 
only  is  recorded  that  year  and  the  year  fol- 
lowing. But  Mr.  Torrey  in  his  essay,  pub- 
lished in  the  ''Atlantic  Monthly"  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1883,  speaks  of  a  few  having  taken 


94    BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

to  building  their  nests  in  one  corner  of  the 
domain  at  that  time.  So  it  would  seem  as 
if  the  species  made  no  gain  in  numbers 
within  the  Garden  for  a  period  of  twenty- 
years.  In  1902  the  number  had  doubled 
that  of  1901,  but  there  were  then  only  four 
pairs.  In  1903  the  number  had  more  than 
doubled  again,  and  the  record  shows  ten 
pairs  nesting.  In  1904  there  were  fourteen 
nests ;  in  1905  eighteen  nests ;  in  1906  thirty- 
two  nests.  The  year  1907  marked  a  dim- 
inution of  pairs,  as  the  number  of  nests 
observed  was  but  twenty-five,  and  in  1908 
about  the  same  number  was  recorded.  This 
diminution  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  a 
severe  pruning  of  the  English  hawthorns, 
which  left  them  no  longer  the  thick  trees 
coveted  for  nesting  which  they  had  been. 
The  consequence  was  that  some  pairs  re- 
sorted to  the  tops  of  the  tallest  deciduous 
trees  for  nesting-sites,  and  doubtless  there 
were  not  favorable  places  enough  for  as 
many  as  the  numbers  of  1906.  Some  of  the 
surplus  passed  over  to  the  Common,  for 
there  was  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
pairs  which  nested  there. 


i 


BRONZED   CRACKLE  95 

In  five  years,  therefore,  from  1902  to 
1906,  there  was  a  rapid  increase  of  grackles 
breeding  within  the  Garden,  and  such  a 
check  as  occurred  in  1907  was  doubtless 
desirable. 

The  earliest  arrival  of  the  species  was  on 
March  11,  1906,  when  two  birds  appeared; 
but  this  earliness  of  date  was  offset  by  their 
disappearance  after  six  days,  owing  to  a 
week  of  wintry  weather,  in  which  the  mer- 
cury dropped  to  1 1°  and  two  snowfalls  oc- 
curred, depositing  fifteen  inches  of  snow. 
There  was  a  reappearance  of  these  two 
birds,  or  other  two,  on  March  25,  followed 
by  successive  additions  until  the  number 
of  nesting  birds  reached  sixty-four.  The 
next  earliest  arrival  was  in  1908,  when  three 
birds  appeared  on  March  12.  The  latest 
date  of  arrival  of  the  species  within  the 
Garden  was  March  24,  in  1904.  The  usual 
time  of  coming  has  been  between  March  16 
and  18.' 

^  A  male  Bronzed  Crackle,  which  had  returned  to  the 
Garden  for  the  season  of  1909,  was  seen  by  me  on  Feb- 
ruary 26  in  a  purple  beech  which  retained  on  one  of  its 


96    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

By  the  first  of  May  many  nests  have  been 
begun  or  already  contain  eggs,  and  by  the 
end  of  the  month  the  young  grackles  have 
left  the  earliest-built  nests.  These  birds  of 
beautiful  iridescent  plumage  add  much  to 
the  charm  and  happy  life  of  the  Garden, 
and  their  notes,  though  unmusical,  fall 
not  unpleasantly  on  the  ear  of  bird-loving 
visitors.  Their  value,  also,  in  destroying 
insect  life  must  be  beyond  easy  calcula- 
tion. 

Among  all  the  grackles  which  year  by 
year  live  in  the  Garden  I  have  been  unable 
to  identify  any  individual  as  a  Purple 
Grackle,  and  yet  the  opportunities  have 
been  ample  on  account  of  the  tameness  of 
the  birds,  which  affords  an  observer  the  full- 
boughs  the  remains  of  a  grackle's  nest  of  the  previous 
year.  It  is  interesting  to  record  that  Mrs.  Charles  W. 
Townsend,  who  kindly  permits  me  to  chronicle  her  ob- 
servation, saw  this  grackle  on  February  23.  A  few  blue- 
birds had  appeared  here  and  there  in  the  vicinity  of  Bos- 
ton on  this  date,  and  a  single  red-winged  blackbird  had 
also  been  seen  by  me  on  Arlington  Heights  upon  that 
day.  This  first  grackle,  having  come  so  early,  remained 
alone  for  nineteen  days.  A  second  came  on  March  14, 
and  two  days  later  two  others  arrived. 


BRONZED   GRACKLE  97 

est  chances  to  scan  them  and  assure  himself 
of  their  coloration. 

Some  grackles  are  present  when  obser- 
vations have  been  resumed  in  October,  but 
so  few,  and  intermittently,  that  it  is  quite 
likely  that  they  are  birds  which  did  not 
nest  and  were  not  reared  within  the  Garden, 
but  migrant  birds  on  their  way  southward. 
In  October,  1908,  when  observation  was 
resumed  on  the  eighth  day,  no  grackle  was 
present,  and  none  was  noted  until  the  fif- 
teenth day.  This  seems  confirmatory  of 
the  assumption  that  the  summer  residents 
had  all  gone  and  that  the  few  records  of  the 
species  made  after  the  middle  of  the  month 
were  of  migrant  birds.  Only  once  has  a  con- 
siderable flock  been  seen  in  the  autumn, 
namely,  twenty-five  birds  on  October  24, 
1906;  one  grackle  only  had  been  present 
on  the  previous  day.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Town- 
send  furnishes  an  additional  record  of  a 
flock  in  the  autumn,  that  of  six  Bronzed 
Grackles  present  and  singing  on  October 
15,  1905.  The  departure  of  the  last  birds 
has  occurred  definitely  between  October 


98    BIRDS   OF   THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

22  and  24,  except  in  1906,  when  the  date 
was  October  26. 

38.  Pine  Grosbeak 

Pinicola  enucleator  leucura 

On  March  23,  1907,  a  female  or  young 
male  Pine  Grosbeak  visited  the  Garden  for 
a  few  minutes  in  the  early  morning.  It  was 
seen  perching  on  a  temporary  windbreak 
of  small  spruces  which  the  gardener  had 
placed  for  the  winter  season  around  a  group 
of  rhododendrons.  The  whistles  of  the  bird 
first  attracted  my  attention.  The  species 
had  been  common  in  the  suburbs  of  Boston 
throughout  the  winter.  This  was  the  last 
Pine  Grosbeak  which  was  seen  by  me  that 
season.  Doubtless  it  was  a  migrant  north 
from  some  more  southern  point,  accom- 
panying an  incoming  of  grackles  and 
robins. 

One  other  brief  visit  of  a  Pine  Grosbeak 
was  on  November  i,  1903,  which  time 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  previous  visita- 
tion of  this  species  to  the  environs  of  Boston. 

Mr.  Francis  H.  Allen  has  furnished  to 


PURPLE  FINCH  99 

Mr.  William  Brewster's  "Birds  of  the 
Cambridge  Region"  an  additional  record, 
which  is  especially  interesting  on  account 
of  its  late  date,  namely,  that  of  a  Pine  Gros- 
beak in  the  Granary  Burying-Ground  on 
April  24,  1896.  The  closeness  of  this  area  to 
the  Common  suggests  the  appropriateness 
of  including  this  visitant  among  those  of 
the  Garden  and  the  Common. 

39.  Purple  Finch 

Carpodacus  purpureus 

There  are  usually  several  appearances  of 
the  Purple  Finch  within  the  Garden  each 
season,  but  at  no  time  has  a  flock  been  ob- 
served. Nearly  all  of  the  records  are  of  a 
single  bird ;  and  sometimes  the  species  has 
not  appeared  until  May  7  or  later.  The 
earliest  record  is  that  of  a  bird  in  song  on 
April  3,  1906.  In  four  of  the  seasons  one 
has  been  present  as  late  as  between  May  19 
and  23.  These  later  birds  have  been  singing 
freely,  but  they  have  moved  on  without 
delay  to  more  congenial  nesting-haunts. 

The  Purple  Finch  has  also  been  an  au- 


loo    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

tumn  visitant  in  October  in  six  of  the  years, 
and  in  1904  one  was  recorded  on  Novem- 
ber 5.  Although  the  species  is  to  some  ex- 
tent a  winter  resident  about  Boston,  no 
earlier  spring  or  later  fall  records  have  been 
obtained. 

40.  White-winged  Crossbill 

Loxia  leucoptera 

At  the  time  of  the  coming  from  the  north 
of  this  erratic  species  in  the  autumn  of  1908 
a  single  bird  was  heard  as  it  passed  over  the 
Garden  calling  in  the  morning  of  October 
21.  And  on  November  5  two  birds  sim- 
ilarly passed  over.  In  each  instance  they 
were  flying  westward  toward  the  suburbs 
possessing  cone-bearing  trees.  The  trees 
this  season  were  heavily  laden  with  cones, 
upon  the  seeds  of  which  both  species  of 
Crossbills  feed. 

41.  Redpoll 

Acanthis  linaria 

Three  times  the  Redpoll  has  entered  the 
Public   Garden   record.     Mr.    Glover   M. 


AMERICAN  GOLDFINCH  loi 

Allen  furnishes  the  earliest  record  of  the 
three,  having  noted  a  Redpoll  within  the 
grounds  on  February  12,  1907.  On  the  sec- 
ond occasion  a  lone  bird  was  seen  passing 
over  northward  on  April  21,  1907,  at  the 
end  of  a  season  in  which  the  species  had 
been  abundant  in  the  suburbs  in  winter 
flocks.  On  the  third  occasion  three  birds 
were  flying  over  westward  in  the  morning 
of  November  22,  1908.  In  both  the  later 
instances  the  birds  gave  their  character- 
istic calls. 

42.  American  Goldfinch 

Astragalinus  tristis 

The  Goldfinch,  or  Thistle-bird,  never  has 
failed  to  make  several  appearances  in  the 
Garden  each  spring  and  again  in  October 
and  November.  The  earliest  appearances 
of  the  species  were  on  April  10,  1908,  when 
seven  birds  were  present,  some  singing,  and 
on  April  11, 1902,  when  a  single  bird  singing 
was  noted.  There  have  been  but  three  other 
April  records,  namely,  April  22  and  23,  in 
1902  and  1903  respectively,  and  April  30, 


102    BIRDS    OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

1908,  in  each  instance  a  single  bird.  In 
May  the  visits  have  occurred  between 
May  7  and  30. 

A  little  flock  numbering  from  six  to  eight 
birds  has  been  seen  but  four  times.  The 
occurrences  of  a  single  bird  far  outnumber 
those  of  two  or  more  birds.  Not  uncom- 
monly the  lone  Goldfinch  has  been  in  song. 

Fewer  individuals  have  been  recorded 
in  the  autumn,  but  the  species  regularly 
reappears  then  and  has  furnished  many 
November  as  well  as  October  records,  the 
latest  birds  being  a  little  flock  of  four  pre- 
sent on  November  22,  1903. 

43.  Pine  Siskin 

Spinus  pinus 

In  1907  and  1908  only  has  the  Pine  Siskin, 
or  Pine  Finch,  been  recorded  in  the  spring 
in  the  Garden.  On  May  20  of  the  former 
year  a  single  bird  was  heard  calling  in  flight, 
and  on  May  25  one  was  seen  perching  and 
singing.  In  1908  a  Siskin  appeared  on 
May  12,  when  a  very  large  general  migra- 
tion-flight manifested  itself  in  the  Garden. 


VESPER  SPARROW  103 

In  four  of  the  years  of  my  observation 
Siskins  have  been  recorded  in  October.  In 
1 90 1  two  Httle  flocks  of  three  and  five  birds 
respectively  paid  a  fleeting  visit  on  Octo- 
ber 26  and  27.  In  1906  a  single  bird  was 
recorded  on  October  17  and  22.  In  1907  a 
flock  of  ten  birds  lit  in  a  tree-top  on  Octo- 
ber 19,  and  again  on  October  21  a  flock  of 
six  birds  was  noted.  On  October  25  one 
bird  made  its  presence  known  by  giving  its 
characteristic  call.  And  in  1908  the  mi- 
gration movements  of  the  species  were 
manifest  up  to  November  12,  two  birds 
appearing  on  October  10,  twenty  on  Octo- 
ber 14,  a  flock  which  numbered  quite  a 
hundred  passing  over  on  October  18,  and 
scattered  birds  thereafter,  one  occasionally 
coming  into  a  tree,  feeding  and  calling. 

44.  Vesper  Sparrow 

Pooecetes  gramineus 

The  Vesper  Sparrow,  or  Grass  Finch,  has 
visited  the  Garden  only  four  times  during 
the  period  of  my  records,  in  three  of  the 
instances  a   single    bird.    The    dates   are 


104     BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

April  23,  1903;  April  19,  1904;  and  April 
10, 1905.  The  fourth  occasion  was  the  pre- 
sence of  two  birds  on  April  26,  1907. 

On  April  22,  1907,  four  birds  were  seen 
on  the  Common  on  the  west  slope  of  Monu- 
ment Hill.  This  slope  has  proved  to  be  a 
favorite  feeding-place  of  all  of  the  more 
common  species  of  sparrows,  and  I  surmise 
that  a  scanning  of  this  ground  in  the  earlier 
years  of  my  observation,  1900- 1905,  would 
have  revealed  more  instances  of  the  pre- 
sence of  this  species  there.  It  is  rather  to  be 
sought  there  or  on  the  level  of  the  parade 
ground  below  the  hill,  than  in  the  Garden. 
The  other  records  of  the  Common  are  a 
bird  in  song  on  April  8,  1906,  and  a  bird 
on  April  7,  23,  and  26  successively  in  1908. 

I  have  no  record  showing  that  a  bird  of 
this  species  has  remained  over  the  next 
day. 

45.  Savanna  Sparrow 

Passerculus  sandwichensis  savanna 

The  Savanna  Sparrow  is  a  frequent 
visitor  to  the  Garden  and  the  Common 


SAVANNA  SPARROW  105 

throughout  the  period  of  its  spring  migra- 
tion. It  has  been  seen  more  often  and  more 
numerously  on  the  Common  than  in  the 
Garden ;  yet  there  are  many  records  of  its 
presence  in  the  Garden.  It  is  almost  always 
found  feeding  upon  the  grass  land;  but 
occasionally  has  been  heard  singing  from  a 
tree.  It  usually  appears  in  the  second  half 
of  April,  and  the  migration  continues  in- 
termittently sometimes  up  to  the  middle 
of  May.  The  earliest  arrival  was  of  three 
birds  on  March  31,  in  1908.  No  other  ar- 
rival-date has  been  earlier  than  April  11,  in 
1904. 

Seven  Savanna  Sparrows  were  observed 
in  the  Garden  on  April  17  and  18,  1904, 
four  of  the  same,  presumably,  remaining  to 
April  24,  thus  completing  an  eight  days* 
stay.  The  little  flock  was  seen  each  morn- 
ing. Nine  birds  were  seen  feeding  together 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill  on  the  Common 
upon  April  22,  1907,  and  five  days  later 
seven  were  present.  Unlike  the  Vesper 
Sparrow,  the  birds  of  this  species  appear, 
therefore,  to  linger  several  days. 


io6    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

The  late  records  of  the  species  in  the 
spring  are  of  a  bird  on  May  13  and  14, 
1904,  none  having  been  observed  in  the 
intervening  time  from  April  24;  of  one  on 
May  12,  1905,  none  having  been  seen  since 
May  4;  of  two  birds  on  May  10,  1907, 
while  seven  were  seen  on  the  Common  the 
same  day,  three  of  them  singing ;  of  two  on 
May  13  and  one  on  May  14  of  this  same 
year;  and  of  one  bird  on  May  10,  1908. 
The  dates  indicate  how  late  some  individ- 
uals of  a  species  arrive,  most  of  the  indi- 
viduals of  which  have  come  and  passed  on 
much  earlier. 

The  records  of  1904  show  the  migration 
of  this  species  through  the  Garden  to  have 
covered  thirty-four  days,  namely,  from 
April  1 1  to  May  14 ;  those  of  1908  show  that 
the  period  covered  was  forty-one  days, 
namely,  from  March  31  to  May  10. 

The  only  autumn  records  of  the  Savanna 
Sparrow  are  of  a  bird  in  the  Garden  on 
October  28,  and  another  on  October  31,  in 
1908. 


WHITE-CROWNED   SPARROW       107 
46.  White-crowned  Sparrow 

Zonotrichia  leucophrys 

The  White-crowned  Sparrow  has  ap- 
peared in  five  of  the  nine  years :  on  May  11, 
1900;  on  May  8,  1902;  on  May  12  to  21, 
1905 ;  on  May  20  to  23,  1907 ;  and  on  May 
12  to  18,  1908.  In  1900  and  1902  one  bird 
only  came  each  year.  Three  were  recorded 
on  May  12,  1905,  and  two  of  these,  which 
were  frequently  heard  in  song,  remained  to 
May  21, — unless  it  be  that  there  was  a 
succession  of  birds  of  this  species  passing 
through,  but  as  just  two  were  recorded 
each  day  of  this  period,  it  seems  likely  that 
the  same  two  birds  remained  ten  days, 
while  the  third  bird  of  May  12  passed  on. 
The  year  1905  was  exceptional,  therefore, 
in  comparison  with  the  foregoing  years,  in 
the  continued  presence  of  this  species  and 
in  its  being  in  song. 

But  in  1908,  and  again  upon  the  same 
date.  May  12,  as  many  as  nine  birds  were 
seen  in  the  Garden  and  five  others  were 
observed  on  the  Common.  Several  were 


io8    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

singing.  It  is  likely  that  more  were  present 
than  were  seen  and  counted.  The  numbers 
recorded  mark  the  visitation  of  White- 
crowned  Sparrows  on  that  day  as  most  un- 
usual. It  is  possible  that  conditions  tended 
to  concentrate  them  within  this  city  park 
area,  for  a  walk  with  careful  observation 
through  Wellesley  Hills  and  Farms  the 
same  day  with  a  companion  whose  eyes  and 
ears  were  searching  everywhere  like  my 
own  revealed  not  an  individual.  Several  of 
these  birds  of  the  I2th  remained,  while 
most  of  them  at  once  passed  on.  The  rem- 
nant gradually  diminished  until  on  the  17th 
and  1 8  th  there  was  present  one  bird  only. 
The  singing  of  the  first  day  was  continued 
and  in  generous  measure  upon  the  follow- 
ing days. 

Three  autumn  records  of  the  White- 
crowned  Sparrow  have  been  obtained,  all 
being  of  a  single  bird  in  the  plumage  of  the 
female  or  immature  male,  namely,  on  No- 
vember I,  1904;  on  October  28,  1908;  and 
on  November  2,  1908. 

An  incident  which  came  under  observa- 


WHITE-CROWNED   SPARROW         109 

tion  relating  to  the  last-mentioned  bird  was 
this.  The  White-crown  was  upon  the 
ground  under  a  dogwood  tree  and  in  mov- 
ing about  had  found  a  small  chunk  of  bread, 
at  which  it  was  picking,  when  a  House 
Sparrow,  spying  it,  darted  in  from  a  dis- 
tance. The  White-crown  stood  erect,  and 
with  dignity  received  the  sparrow  with  a 
spirited  rendering  of  its  song,  like  a  cock 
crowing  in  defiance  of  his  adversary.  But 
the  House  Sparrow,  with  more  heed  to  his 
appetite  than  care  for  the  defiance,  and 
with  a  cunning  and  quickness  of  motion  of 
which  the  dignified  White-crown  would  be 
quite  incapable,  seized  the  piece  of  bread 
and  was  gone.  The  White-crown  for  an  in- 
stant seemed  nonplussed  at  the  loss  of  its 
meal,  but  calmly  proceeded  in  its  search 
for  food,  doubtless  feeling  that  the  little 
rascal  was  indecently  greedy  and  a  con- 
temptibly sly  fellow.  Why  should  it  not 
feel  so? 


no    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 
47.  White-throated  Sparrow 

Zonotrichia  albicollis 

The  White-throated  Sparrow,  or  Pea- 
body-bird,  appears  in  the  Garden  in  late 
April.  Its  arrival  has  ranged  between  April 
21  and  30.  The  season  of  its  migration  has 
extended  to  May  16  to  26,  usually  near  to 
the  last-named  date.  In  1905  the  migration 
covered  the  full  period  between  the  earliest 
and  the  latest  dates,  namely,  thirty-six 
days;  in  1903  and  1904,  thirty  days;  in 
1906,  twenty-seven  days;  in  1907,  twenty- 
nine  days;  and  in  1908,  twenty-five  days. 
The  largest  number  of  birds  recorded  upon 
any  one  day  was  about  fifty  on  May  3, 1905, 
and  again  on  May  12,  1908.  On  the  last- 
named  date  there  were  almost  as  many 
more  on  the  Common.  Usually  the  largest 
number  of  birds  present  at  any  one  time 
has  been  from  eight  to  fifteen,  and  it  has 
been  attained  either  in  late  April  or  be- 
tween May  7  and  14.  The  maximum  num- 
ber for  1907  was  as  late  as  May  19  and  20. 

Many  of  the  White-throats  linger  a  num- 


WHITE-THROATED   SPARROW      iii 

ber  of  days.  But,  as  a  new  migration 
movement  generally  overlaps  a  remnant 
from  a  previous  movement,  it  is  not  easy  to 
determine  definitely  the  length  of  stay  of 
individuals.  An  interval  sometimes  occurs 
after  the  first  birds  arriving  in  April  have 
passed  on  before  the  more  continuous 
movement  of  coming  and  passing  takes 
place,  but  after  this  has  set  in  in  early  May 
there  have  been  few  days  when  White- 
throats  have  been  entirely  absent.  The 
season  of  1903  was  an  exception,  for  there 
were  only  four  appearances  of  the  species, 
each  time  for  a  single  day  only,  and  but 
eight  birds  in  all  were  recorded,  and  yet  the 
time  of  migration  covered  was  thirty  days. 
The  movements  of  the  seasons  of  1905, 
1906,  1907,  and  1908  were  notably  larger 
than  those  in  the  previous  five  years.  The 
White-throats  often  sing  in  the  early  morn- 
ing their  peculiarly  peaceful  song. 

In  October  the  southward  migration  is 
always  manifested  in  the  Garden.  It  con- 
tinued in  the  years  1904,  1906,  and  1907  to 
November  4  and  5.    In  1903  the  autumn 


112    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC  GARDEN 

records  extended  intermittently  to  No- 
vember 9,  15,  and  29;  in  1908,  to  Novem- 
ber 12.  Upon  some  days  in  the  latter  half 
of  October  from  half  a  dozen  to  a  dozen 
birds  are  usually  present,  few  full-plum- 
aged  males  at  this  time,  but  occasionally 
a  handsome  fellow.  Mr.  Maurice  C.  Blake 
furnishes  two  early  autumn  records,  namely, 
one  of  four  birds  present  in  the  Garden  on 
September  24,  and  the  other  of  two  birds 
on  October  5,  in  1904.  The  White-throats 
scratch  among  the  fallen  leaves  under  the 
trees,  about  the  roots  of  the  shrubs,  and  in 
the  flower-beds  among  the  plants. 

White- throated  Sparrows,  unless  dis- 
turbed, are  usually  seeking  food  upon  the 
ground,  and  are  often  under  the  protection 
of  the  beeches  with  low-hanging  boughs. 
Sometimes  they  are  scattered  about  upon 
the  lawns.  They  are  quite  likely  to  be  in 
little  groups.  When  frightened  by  a  too 
near  approach,  they  fly  up  among  the 
branches  of  a  near  tree,  where  they  may  be 
traced  by  their  sibilant  calls.  Here  they 
await  a  safe  opportunity  to  drop  to  the 


TREE   SPARROW  113 

ground  again.  From  the  trees  the  song 
when  given  also  comes.  Some  days  in  the 
spring  there  is  much  singing. 

Very  few  White-throats  as  a  rule  choose 
the  Common  in  preference  to  the  Garden. 

Invariably  they  are  masters  of  the  house 
sparrows,  driving  the  latter  off  when  they 
intrude. 

The  last  birds  seen  in  the  spring  are 
usually  females. 

48.  Tree  Sparrow 

Spizella  monticola 

Three  times  only  in  the  spring  has  the 
Tree  Sparrow  visited  the  Garden,  and  on 
each  occasion  a  single  bird  for  one  day  only. 
The  dates  are  March  29,  1905,  March  25, 
1907,  and  March  27,  1908.  On  the  first  oc- 
casion two  other  birds  of  the  species  were 
seen  on  the  Common.  The  bird  of  1908  en- 
joyed a  bath  in  the  waters  of  the  pond  as 
they  touch  the  shore  of  the  small  island. 
At  the  time  the  water  was  low  on  account 
of  being  drawn  off,  and  it  sufficiently  re- 
ceded from  the  shore  to  offer  advantages. 


114    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

The  species  has  never  been  seen  by  me 
in  the  Garden  as  a  winter  visitant.  But 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend,  in  his  "  Birds  of 
Essex  County,"  states,  —  and  he  has  kindly 
given  me  permission  to  quote  him,  —  "On 
January  15,  1904,  I  was  attracted  by  the 
chirping  of  this  bird  [Tree  Sparrow]  at 
11.30  P.  M.  on  the  PubHc  Garden,  in  Bos- 
ton, and  saw  one  hopping  about  on  the 
snow  near  an  electric  light.  It  was  soon 
joined  by  another,  and  both  flew  away 
chirping." 

49.  Chipping  Sparrow 

Spizella  passerina 

Only  one  year  has  the  Chipping  Sparrow 
been  absent  from  the  spring  record  of  the 
Garden,  namely,  in  1904.  In  1906,  1907, 
and  1908  the  species  was  more  often  noted 
than  in  the  previous  six  years.  The  earliest 
appearance  of  a  Chippy  was  on  March  29, 
1905,  when  one  singing  attracted  especial 
notice,  as  he  was  twelve  to  fourteen  days 
ahead  of  the  usual  time  of  arrival  in  this 
section.    The  next  earliest  appearance  of 


CHIPPING  SPARROW  115 

the  species  in  the  Garden  was  on  April  14, 
1906.  In  1907  and  1908  the  day  of  arrival 
was  April  18.  The  migration  period  is  ex- 
tended, for  in  1908  it  reached  to  May  21, 
when  a  bird  in  song  was  in  the  Garden  and 
another  was  singing  on  the  Common ;  twice 
it  has  reached  to  May  22,  namely,  in  1902 
and  in  1906,  on  both  occasions  a  bird  in  song 
being  noted ;  and  in  1907  a  bird  was  present 
and  singing  on  May  28,  not  having  then 
reached  its  nesting-haunt.  In  1905  the  mi- 
gration covered  thirty- three  days ;  in  1906, 
thirty-nine  days;  in  1907,  forty-one  days; 
and  in  1908,  thirty-four  days. 

Two  birds,  presumably  a  pair,  as  one  was 
much  heard  in  song  while  the  other  was  not, 
remained  four  days  in  1906,  namely,  from 
April  19  to  22,  suggesting  a  possible  nest- 
ing, but  they  then  disappeared.  Com- 
monly one  bird  only  has  been  noted  in  a 
day,  but  there  is  one  record  of  a  small  com- 
pany, namely,  four  birds,  on  April  27,  1902. 
Usually  the  Chipping  Sparrow  remains  but 
one  day,  as  intervals  of  several  days  have 
occurred  between  records  of  its  presence. 


ii6    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

It  was  found  in  1907  that  the  species  had 
a  preference  for  the  Common,  since  ten 
Chippies  were  seen  together  on  the  slope 
of  the  hill  on  May  i ;  six  on  May  9  and  10 ; 
and  seven  on  May  13  after  only  one  had 
been  noted  on  May  12.  In  1908  most  of 
the  visitants  were  on  the  Common,  five  be- 
ing present  on  May  10.  On  the  Common, 
also,  there  has  been  a  somewhat  stronger 
disposition  to  remain  for  several  days. 

There  are  records  in  four  of  the  years  of 
the  species  in  the  Garden  in  October,  1901, 
1902,  1907,  and  1908,  the  visits  ranging  be- 
tween October  19  and  30,  a  single  bird  in 
most  instances.  Two  Chippies  were  seen  on 
the  Common  on  October  30,  1907,  and  five 
on  October  21,  1908. 

50.  Field  Sparrow 

Spizella  pusilla 

The  Field  Sparrow,  as  was  the  case  with 
the  Chipping  Sparrow,  was  absent  from  the 
Garden  in  1904,  but  has  been  recorded  as 
present  in  all  of  the  other  years.  In  three 
of  the  seasons  one  bird  only  was  noted, 


FIELD   SPARROW  117 

namely,  in  1901,  1903,  and  1906.  In  1902, 
1905,  1907,  and  1908  there  were  several 
successive  visits  of  a  single  bird  at  inter- 
vals of  a  few  days.  The  earliest  appearance 
was  of  a  bird  in  song  on  the  Common, 
March  31,  1902;  the  next  earliest  time  of 
arrival  was  on  April  9,  1903,  in  the  Garden. 
The  latest  records  have  been  of  a  bird  on 
May  16,  1905;  of  one  on  May  13,  1906; 
and  of  two  on  May  13  and  14,  1907.  The 
period  of  migration  covered  thirty- two 
days  in  1902  and  1905.  Several  of  the  vis- 
itants have  sung. 

The  Field  Sparrow  also  was  found  in  1907 
to  have  a  preference  for  the  Common.  The 
first  two  records  of  the  season  were  there 
obtained,  namely,  on  April  21  and  26,  on 
the  latter  date  there  being  three  birds  pre- 
sent which  remained  to  the  following  day. 
In  1902  one  bird  continued  there  in  song 
during  four  days,  March  31  to  April  3, 
singing  each  morning  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
burying-ground. 

No  autumn  records  of  the  species  have 
been  obtained. 


ii8    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 
51.  Slate-colored  Junco 

Junco  hyemalis 

As  surely  as  the  spring  comes,  the  Junco, 
or  Snowbird,  makes  its  appearance  in  the 
Garden,  generally  being  present  in  small 
flocks,  but  not  seldom  one  bird  alone. 
March  13,  1902,  has  been  the  earliest  date 
of  arrival,  when  four  birds  were  seen.  The 
first  one  came  on  March  15  in  1908;  on 
March  17  in  1907;  and  on  March  19  in 
1903.  The  time  of  arrival  has  been  as  late 
as  March  29,  when  in  1906  a  single  bird 
was  recorded.  The  latest  records  for  the 
species  have  been  May  5,  1905,  when  one 
bird  was  present;  May  3,  1908,  a  female 
bird;  and  May  5,  1908,  when  one  was  on 
the  Common.  In  the  other  years  the  migra- 
tion has  ceased  upon  a  date  between  April 
22  and  27,  except  in  1906,  when  no  Junco 
appeared  after  April  14. 

In  1907  there  was  a  very  notable  migra- 
tion of  J  uncos  into  the  Garden  on  April 
10,  when  the  number  was  estimated  to  have 
been  fifty  or  more.  They  came  in  company 


SLATE-COLORED  JUNCO  119 

with  fox  sparrows.  A  previous  movement 
had  brought  on  April  2  nearly  as  many, 
but  most  of  these  alighted  on  the  Common. 
Also  on  March  29, 1905,  a  flock  of  quite  forty 
alighted  on  the  Common,  almost  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  Garden. 

The  period  of  migration  covered  forty- 
two  days  in  1902,  thirty-seven  days  in 
1903,  forty  days  in  1905,  forty- two  days 
in  1907,  and  fifty-two  days  in  1908.  The 
silvery,  trilling  song  has  sometimes  been 
heard,  but  usually  only  the  several  calls 
which  belong  to  the  species. 

On  the  southward  migration  in  the  au- 
tumn the  J  unco  is  quite  as  much  in  evidence 
in  the  Garden  as  in  the  spring.  The  species 
never  fails  to  appear  successively  in  small 
flocks,  at  times,  however,  numbering  twenty 
birds,  through  the  month  of  October  and 
sometimes  to  the  middle  of  November, 
one  bird  being  seen  on  the  Common  in  1907 
on  November  17,  and  one  in  the  Garden  in 
1908  on  November  19.  When  a  single  bird 
is  present,  it  is  not  infrequently  shyly  up 
in  a  tree- top,  and  makes  its  presence  known 


I20    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

by  a  twittering  which  is  characteristic  of 
the  species.  Especially  does  it  give  this 
when  it  passes  from  one  tree  to  another. 

Mr.  Maurice  C.  Blake  furnishes  two 
early  autumn  records,  namely,  one  of  three 
birds  present  in  the  Garden  on  September 
24,  and  the  other  of  one  bird  on  October  5, 
in  1904. 

52.  Song  Sparrow 

Melospiza  melodia 

The  Song  Sparrow,  or  Ground  Sparrow, 
always  comes  in  good  numbers  at  the  open- 
ing of  spring.  Usually  a  little  flock  is  pre- 
sent, but  there  are  many  occurrences  of  one 
or  two  birds  only  in  a  day;  and  intervals 
occur  between  successive  migration  move- 
ments when  none  are  present.  The  species 
is  one  of  the  earliest  to  arrive,  some  birds 
coming  each  year  at  the  same  time  that 
the  earliest  grackles  and  robins  come.  The 
ice  is  scarcely  gone  from  the  pond,  and 
patches  of  snow  still  linger,  when  the  cheery 
song  is  first  heard  upon  a  mild  morning  in 
early  or  middle  March,  which  has  been 


SONG   SPARROW  121 

ushered  in  by  southerly  breezes  on  the  pre- 
ceding day.  And  unhke  the  grackles  and 
the  robins,  which  come  in  small  numbers 
at  first,  a  single  bird  or  two,  the  Song  Spar- 
rows arrive  in  goodly  numbers  when  first 
they  appear.  So  the  places  which  have  been 
birdless  become  occupied  with  happy  song- 
sters all  in  a  night,  and  the  evidences  of 
their  presence  in  the  morning  come  to  the 
ear  in  song  on  every  side.  The  Public 
Garden  receives  a  touch  of  such  awakening 
from  every  winter's  sleep.  Most  of  these 
earliest  visitants  move  quickly  on,  but  they 
are  followed  by  others  in  succession,  in  larger 
or  smaller  numbers,  for  several  weeks. 

The  earliest  arrival  of  the  Song  Sparrow 
in  the  Garden  was  on  March  6,  1903.  In 
1908  they  came  on  March  12,  ten  of  them 
to  the  Garden  and  five  to  the  Common ;  in 
1902,  on  March  13,  twenty  or  more  arrived ; 
on  March  19,  1905,  forty  came.  The  latest 
date  of  arrival  was  March  28,  in  1906. 
Song  Sparrows  usually  continue  to  arrive 
up  to  about  the  end  of  April;  although 
after  the  middle  of  this  month  the  num- 


122    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN     - 

bers  present  are  diminishing  gradually  to 
one  or  two  birds  only.  Some  stragglers 
come  along  in  May,  having  their  nesting- 
places  still  beyond  them;  for  the  species 
does  not  nest  in  the  Garden  Thus,  in  1904, 
one  was  recorded  on  May  20;  in  1905,  one 
was  present  from  April  26  to  May  2,  and 
another  appeared  on  May  12 ;  in  1907,  one 
was  present  on  May  9,  three  on  May  10, 
and  two  on  May  13.  These  late  migrants 
extended  the  season  of  migration  in  1904 
to  a  period  of  fifty-eight  days ;  in  1905  the 
migration  covered  fifty-six  days;  in  1907, 
fifty-eight  days;  in  1908,  forty-five  days; 
and  in  1902  and  1903,  also  forty-five  days. 
In  1906  the  migration  was  small  and  of 
short  duration,  lasting  only  twenty  days. 

Song  Sparrows  show  a  preference  for  the 
Garden  over  the  Common,  although  the 
latter  usually  receives  some  of  the  visitants 
in  the  successive  movements  of  migration. 

Regularly  in  October  a  few  Song  Spar- 
rows are  seen  in  the  Garden,  and  four  of 
the  years  furnish  November  records.  Two 
were  present  on  November  8,  1903 ;  one  on 


LINCOLN'S   SPARROW  123 

November  15,  1905 ;  one  from  November 
I  to  4  in  1907  ;  and  one  on  November  5  and 
6,  also  13  and  16,  in  1908. 

53.  Lincoln's  Sparrow 

Melospiza  lincolnii 

In  no  season  has  Lincoln's  Sparrow- 
failed  to  appear  in  the  Garden,  either  one 
bird  or  two  or  three  individuals  succes- 
sively. On  one  occasion  only  were  two 
birds  present  on  the  same  day,  namely, 
May  22,  1903.  There  have  been  two  seasons 
when  but  one  bird  was  recorded,  namely, 
1 90 1  and  1907.  The  earliest  appearance 
of  the  species  was  a  bird  on  May  9,  1900. 
In  four  of  the  years  the  first  bird  has  ar- 
rived on  May  12  or  13.  Usually  two  birds 
have  appeared  successively  in  a  season. 
Commonly  the  first  has  come  between  May 
12  and  18;  the  second  from  three  or  four 
days  to  a  week  after  the  first.  The  records 
show  that  one  bird  remained  four  days  in 
1907 ;  one  remained  seven  days  in  1905 ;  and 
one  remained  eight  days  in  1900.  These 
lingerings  have  been  within  the  period  of 


124    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

May  15  to  23.  The  disappearance  of  the 
species  is  commonly  between  May  20  and 
23.  The  presence  of  a  Lincoln's  Sparrow 
later  than  this  occurred  only  in  the  years 
1905  and  1906,  when  a  late  migrant  ap- 
peared on  May  27  and  26  respectively. 

On  but  one  occasion  has  a  bird  sung, 
when  a  sweet,  rippling  song  bearing  some 
resemblance  to  the  music  of  the  purple 
finch  was  heard.  Not  even  has  the  call-note 
of  this  sparrow  been  often  heard,  the  birds 
generally  remaining  silent.  Sometimes  the 
shyness  which  belongs  to  this  species  has 
been  quite  lacking  in  an  individual,  and 
it  has  been  easy  to  make  a  near  approach 
and  become  familiar  with  this  trig,  spirited 
little  sparrow,  whose  finer  streakings  and 
buff-tinged  breast  well  differentiate  it  from 
the  song  sparrow. 

54.  Swamp  Sparrow 

Melospiza  georgiana 

The  Swamp  Sparrow  in  1905,  1907,  and 
1908  made  such  successive  appearances 
during  the  season  that  the  species  might  be 


SWAMP   SPARROW  125 

regarded  as  not  uncommon  in  the  Garden. 
But  these  seasons  have  been  offset  by 
others,  namely,  1900,  1901,  1903,  and  1906, 
when  only  one  or  two  records  were  ob- 
tained. Seldom  does  the  Swamp  Sparrow 
remain  over  to  a  second  day.  There  is  no 
damp  ground,  and  there  are  no  swampy 
conditions  within  the  area  of  the  Garden. 
So  it  is  natural  for  the  individuals  which 
drop  in  to  seek  quickly  other  more  con- 
genial places.  The  most  marked  exception 
to  this  statement  was  made  by  a  bird  in 
1900,  which  remained  six  days.  May  19 
to  24. 

The  time  of  arrival  of  the  species  is  very 
various.  It  has  appeared  in  March,  on 
March  27,  1905 ;  it  has  sometimes  first  been 
seen  in  April,  early  or  late ;  but  most  of  its 
appearances  have  been  in  May,  extending 
in  several  seasons  to  May  22.  In  1905 
the  period  of  migration  covered  fifty-seven 
days.  It  is  more  likely  to  be  seen  in  the 
Garden  in  its  later  than  in  its  earlier  migra- 
tions to  this  section.  On  a  few  occasions 
two,  three,  or  four  birds  have  been  present 


126    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

on  the  same  day,  but  commonly  one  bird 
only  has  been  recorded.  On  April  23,  1908, 
six  Swamp  Sparrows  were  seen  in  the  Gar- 
den. There  is  but  one  record  for  the  Coni- 
mon,  that  of  a  single  bird  on  April  23,  1902. 

Only  once  has  a  Swamp  Sparrow  been 
heard  singing,  namely  on  April  5,  1903. 

There  are  two  autumn  records,  one  of  a 
bird  on  October  16,  1904,  and  one  of  a  bird 
on  October  21,  1907. 

55.  Fox  Sparrow 

Passerella  iliaca 

The  Fox  Sparrow  is  a  common  visitant 
to  the  Garden,  arriving  with  the  earliest 
migrants.  In  1903  the  first  bird  appeared  on 
March  13 ;  in  1908  two  birds  were  seen  on 
the  Common  on  March  14.  According  to 
the  season  the  forerunners  of  the  larger 
flights  of  the  species  have  arrived  between 
March  13  and  30.  The  last  bird  in  two  of 
the  seasons,  1904  and  1907,  has  not  passed 
until  April  22,  and  in  1908  one  was  present 
on  April  23.  There  have  been  many  records 
of  a  single  bird,  or  two  birds  only,  present 


FOX   SPARROW  127 

in  a  day.    And  many  times  small  flocks  of 
four  to  ten  birds  have  been  enumerated. 

In  1907  there  was  a  most  remarkable 
incoming  of  Fox  Sparrows  to  the  Garden 
upon  two  several  occasions,  April  2  and  10. 
At  this  time  the  water  of  the  pond  had 
been  drawn  off,  leaving  a  somewhat  muddy 
bottom  covered  with  litter  which  had  col- 
lected, and  which  later  would  be  scraped 
together  and  removed.  Upon  this  drained- 
off  surface  in  the  early  morning  of  April  2 
there  was  seen  to  be  a  host  of  birds  feed- 
ing, and  a  vigorous  scratching  movement 
everywhere  about  indicated  that  Fox  Spar- 
rows were  industriously  at  work  securing 
their  food.  A  careful  reckoning  showed  that 
quite  a  hundred  were  present.  There  were 
also  some  j  uncos  and  song  sparrows  with 
them.  On  April  10  it  was  estimated  that 
there  were  no  less  than  two  hundred  Fox 
Sparrows  present,  nearly  all  of  them  within 
the  limits  of  the  stone  curbing  circum- 
scribing the  pond.  Many  j  uncos  and  a  few 
song  sparrows  on  this  occasion  also  were 
scattered  about  with  them.     On  both  of 


128    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

these  occasions  snow  had  fallen  the  pre- 
vious day,  leaving  some  deposit  of  slush 
on  the  ground,  but  less  had  remained  on 
the  bottom  of  the  pond,  and  it  was  less 
chilled  with  frost.  Consequently  in  the 
generally  unfavorable  conditions  of  wea- 
ther for  the  sparrows  to  obtain  their  food 
they  had  chosen  an  area  presenting  fewer 
difficulties  and  doubtless  holding  many 
seeds  which  had  been  blown  in  by  the 
winds.  On  the  day  after  each  of  these  large 
visitations  only  about  ten  Fox  Sparrows 
remained.  Some  individuals  often  remain 
several  days.  A  flock  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  robins,  as  they  were  estimated,  on  the 
second  occasion  was  round  about  in  many 
bunches,  cackling  and  singing.  The  mini- 
mum temperature  of  the  morning  in  both  in- 
stances was  30°.  The  sky  remained  clouded 
each  time  from  the  storm  of  the  previous 
day.  Therefore  these  great  flights  of  the 
earlier  migrant  species  took  place  under 
cold  and  stormy  conditions,  when  it  is  not 
expected  that  such  migration  movements 
will  occur.  The  extensive  migration  of  the 


FOX   SPARROW  129 

Fox  Sparrows  was  observable  also  in  the 
suburban  places  which  were  visited. 

This  handsome  sparrow  is  shy,  and  when 
only  two  or  three  are  present  they  may 
escape  observation,  since  they  are  quite 
prone  when  frightened  to  fly  up  from  the 
ground  into  the  trees  and  there  give  only 
their  soft,  sibilant  calls  which  may  not 
arrest  the  attention. 

While  commonly  Fox  Sparrows  are  not 
in  song  in  the  Garden,  I  have  many  times 
heard  one  sing  in  rich,  full  tones  the  beau- 
tiful song  of  the  species.  When  a  bird  has 
entered  upon  singing,  it  has  often  seemed 
as  if  he  were  constrained  to  sing,  for  he  has 
given  himself  entirely  over  to  it  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  if  undisturbed.  Such  a  song- 
ster one  morning  occupied  the  top  of  the 
old  wistaria-covered  arbor,  which  has  since 
been  removed.  Another  on  another  oc- 
casion was  hidden  among  the  spruce  trees 
which  had  been  introduced  as  a  windbreak 
to  rhododendrons. 

The  period  covered  by  the  migration  of 
this  species  in  the  spring    is  not  as  ex- 


I30    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

tended  usually  as  in  the  case  of  those  spar- 
rows which  are  also  summer  residents  of 
Massachusetts.  But  in  1907  it  reached 
thirty-six  days,  from  March  18  to  April  22, 
and  in  1908  it  reached  forty-one  days,  from 
March  14  to  April  23.  The  species  is  little 
seen  on  the  Common  in  the  spring. 

The  Fox  Sparrow  quite  regularly  makes 
some  visits  to  the  Garden  in  the  southward 
flight  in  October  and  November,  and  at 
this  season  not  infrequently  has  been  found 
on  the  Common  also.  When  a  dozen  were 
present  in  the  Garden  and  on  the  Common 
in  the  morning  of  November  11,  1908,  one 
was  seen  on  my  way  thither  in  a  tall  elm  of 
Louisburg  Square.  The  first  autumn  bird 
has  twice  appeared  on  October  17,  namely, 
in  1906  and  in  1908.  In  1907  the  first  ap- 
pearance was  on  October  20,  a  single  bird. 
In  the  years  1903  and  1905  it  was  upon 
October  27  and  26  respectively.  The  mi- 
gration has  extended  to  the  middle  of  No- 
vember for  a  single  bird  several  times.  One 
was  in  the  Garden  on  November  15,  in 
1905 ;  one  on  November  12,  in  1906 ;  one  on 


TOWHEE  131 

November  13,  in  1907,  and  a  bird  on  the 
Common  on  November  17;  and  one  on 
November  18,  1908.  In  the  last-named 
year  one  was  present  on  December  3  which 
had  not  been  seen  earlier.  In  both  spring 
and  autumn  frequently  a  small  flock  has 
remained  several  days. 

56.   TOWHEE 

Pipilo  erythrophthalmus 

Regularly  every  season  there  have  been 
visits  of  Towhees,  or  Chewinks,  to  the 
Garden,  from  three  to  a  dozen  birds  succes- 
sively each  year,  either  singly  or  in  small 
companies.  The  earliest  visitant,  a  female, 
came  on  April  25,  1905.  A  Towhee  also 
appeared  in  late  April  in  1902,  a  female, 
and  in  1906,  a  male.  Usually  the  arrival  is 
in  the  earliest  days  of  May,  having  been  on 
May  I  and  2  in  1907  and  1908,  respectively, 
in  both  cases  a  male  bird.  The  latest  lin- 
gering birds  have  remained  to  May  22,  in 
1902  and  1903,  in  each  instance  a  female 
bird.  In  four  other  years  May  19  (twice), 
20, and  21  have  terminated  the  migration; 


132    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

in  all  of  these  instances  the  birds  were  fe- 
males, two  in  number  twice. 

The  records  show  that  nearly  twice  as 
many  female  Towhees  as  males  have  visited 
the  Garden  during  the  nine  years  of  obser- 
vation. But  in  1907  six  of  each  sex  came. 
Some  of  these  remained  several  days.  The 
period  of  migration  covered  twenty-five 
days  in  1902  and  in  1905.  No  Towhee  has 
been  seen  on  the  Common.  The  song  has 
seldom  been  heard,  but  in  1907  on  three 
occasions  it  was  given.  The  Towhees  are 
usually  seen  about  the  groups  of  shrubs, 
preferring  to  be  on  the  ground,  unless  dis- 
turbed. The  brown  and  chestnut  costume 
of  the  female  bird  is  especially  harmonious 
and  pleasing. 

57.  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak 

Zamelodia  ludoviciana 

In  one  year  only,  1904,  has  the  Rose- 
breasted  Grosbeak  failed  to  appear.  In  six 
of  the  years  one  bird  only  has  been  noted. 
In  1907  two  male  birds  were  present  on 
May  9,  not  remaining  to  a  second  day,  and 


SCARLET   TANAGER  133 

one  was  present  in  song  on  May  20.  On 
four  occasions  the  visitant  has  been  singing. 
The  earliest  appearance  of  the  species  was 
on  May  9,  in  1907;  the  next  earHest  on 
May  10,  1900,  and  on  May  12,  1908.  The 
later  arrivals  were  on  May  19  in  1903  and 
1906.  The  latest  remaining  bird  was  one 
which  stayed  from  May  15  to  22,  in  1905. 

On  one  occasion  in  the  morning  a  beauti- 
ful male  bird  sat  singing  on  an  elm  bough 
which  extended  well  out  over  Beacon 
Street,  pouring  out  his  song  in  the  stillness 
of  an  early  hour  while  the  residents  still 
slept. 

The  visiting  Grosbeak  has  been  usually 
a  male  bird. 

58.  Scarlet  Tanager 

Piranga  erythromelas 

In  every  season,  except  1903,  the  Scarlet 
Tanager  has  been  seen  in  the  Garden.  On 
May  23,  1900,  there  was  an  exceptional  dis- 
play of  scarlet  plumage,  when  four  male 
birds  during  the  hours  of  that  day  flew 
back  and  forth  among  the  branches  of  the 


134    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

trees  which  stand  around  the  pond  and  on 
the  island.  One  female  bird  was  also  present 
at  the  time.  Only  one  of  the  males  was 
seen  the  following  day.  There  had  already 
been  a  visit  from  two  male  birds  and  one 
female  on  May  i8.  On  one  other  occasion, 
May  19,  1906,  two  male  birds  were  present 
together.  In  other  cases  one  bird  alone  has 
been  present. 

On  May  23,  1904,  a  Tanager  in  song 
proved  to  be  in  orange  plumage  of  oriole 
color,  and  might  in  respect  of  coloring  easily 
have  been  mistaken  for  a  Baltimore  oriole. 
The  song,  however,  had  already  identified 
him.  It  was  an  interesting  instance  of  the 
variation  in  plumage  from  the  normal  color 
of  the  males  of  this  species,  which  one  may 
occasionally  note. 

The  earliest  appearance  of  the  Tanager 
was  on  May  16,  1905 ;  the  latest  records  of 
one  being  present  have  been  of  a  male  bird 
in  song  on  May  26,  1906,  and  on  May  27, 
1908.  Therefore  the  period  of  migration 
through  the  Garden  during  the  nine  years 
of  observation  has  been  within  a  period  of 


CLIFF   SWALLOW  135 

ten  days,  namely,  May  16  to  27.  Usually 
the  visitant  has  not  remained  over  to  a 
second  day.  But  in  1905  the  records  indi- 
cate that  a  female  bird  may  have  remained 
from  May  16  to  24,  nine  days,  as  one  was 
continuously  present  during  that  period. 
The  male  birds  usually  sing. 

59.  Cliff  Swallow 

Petrochelidon  lunijrons 

The  Cliff,  or  Eave,  Swallow  seldom  comes 
within  the  Garden.  Twice  the  species  has 
been  recorded.  Four  birds  with  a  flock  of 
barn  swallows  were  seen  on  May  16,  1905 ; 
and  two  birds  were  present  likewise  with 
barn  swallows  on  May  30,  1907. 

The  visits  of  the  swallows  usually  occur 
upon  clouded  and  misty  days.  On  such  days 
they  may  be  seen  skimming  over  the  pond 
in  rapid  flight.  Thick  weather  seems  to 
attract  them  thither,  while  often  in  clear 
weather  no  movement  of  a  swallow  within 
the  Garden  will  be  seen. 


136    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

60.  Barn  Swallow 

Hirundo  eryihrogaster 

In  three  of  the  seasons  the  Barn  Swallow 
has  not  been  observed,  namely,  1901,  1903, 
and  1906.  But  in  1905  and  again  in  1907 
during  several  days  in  succession  in  May 
a  single  bird  or  two,  or  a  flock  numbering 
sometimes  a  dozen  or  fifteen  birds,  was 
seen.  On  May  16,  1905,  as  many  as  fifteen 
Barn  Swallows  were  skimming  the  air  in 
ceaseless  flight ;  and  on  May  29,  1907,  about 
a  dozen  birds  were  seen,  and  the  following 
day  also  nearly  as  many. 

No  visit  of  the  species  has  been  noted 
earlier  than  May  9,  in  1900,  and  most  of  the 
visits  have  been  in  the  latter  half  of  May. 
In  1908  one  bird  was  recorded  on  June  2. 

61.  Tree  Swallow 

Iridoprocne  bicolor 

There  are  but  four  records  of  the  presence 
of  the  Tree  Swallow  or  White-bellied  Swal- 
low in  the  Garden.  These  appearances  have 
not  occurred  in  the  earlier  period  of  migra- 


BANK   SWALLOW  137 

tion  of  the  species,  for  they  have  all  been  in 
the  second  half  of  May,  between  May  18 
and  30.  On  one  occasion  two  birds  were 
present;  on  the  other  occasions  a  single 
bird,  either  alone  or  with  barn  swallows. 
They  may  be  seen  in  their  beautiful  flight 
passing  back  and  forth  in  the  air  from  one 
end  of  the  pond  to  the  other,  or  again  rising 
higher  in  the  air  and  measuring  a  larger 
area  of  the  Garden. 

62.  Bank  Swallow 

Riparia  riparia 

Twice  the  presence  of  the  Bank  Swallow 
has  been  recorded.  On  May  18,  1900,  two 
birds  were  noted,  and  on  May  16,  1905,  one 
bird.  On  the  first  occasion  they  were  in 
company  with  barn  and  tree  swallows.  On 
the  second  occurrence  the  single  bird  was 
with  barn  and  cliff  swallows,  one  of  a  com- 
posite flock  of  twenty  birds  moving  cease- 
lessly through  the  air  and  skimming  the 
waters  of  the  pond.  / 


138    BIRDS   OF  THE.  PUBLIC   GARDEN 
63.  Cedar  Waxwing 

Bomhycilla  cedrorum 

Cedar  Waxwings,  or  Cedar-birds,  are 
usually  seen  within  the  Garden  each  season. 
Some  years  three  or  four  small  flocks  have 
come  in  succession.  Other  years  a  single 
bird  only  has  appeared.  In  1907  no  record 
of  the  species  was  obtained.  The  largest 
flock  which  has  been  noted  was  one  of  thirty 
birds  on  May  26,  1905.  Twenty  birds  were 
seen  on  May  25,  1904.  Most  of  the  occur- 
rences of  the  species  have  been  in  May. 
Once,  on  March  14,  in  1902,  a  flock  of  six 
birds  appeared.  There  have  been  but  three 
appearances  in  April.  Little  disposition  to 
remain  in  the  Garden  has  been  manifested. 
Indeed,  in  several  instances  a  small  flock  has 
dropped  in  for  a  few  minutes  only.  But  as 
the  Waxwing  is  a  silent  bird  except  for  a  lisp- 
ing call  which  cannot  be  heard  at  much  dis- 
tance from  it,  and  as  the  visits  have  proven 
fleeting,  it  is  quite  Hkely  that  more  birds  of 
this  species  have  visited  the  Garden  in  the 
series  of  years  than  have  attracted  atten- 
tion and  been  noted. 


NORTHERN   SHRIKE  139 

There  are  two  records  of  Cedar-birds  in 
the  autumn,  one  of  a  bird  seen  on  the  Com- 
mon on  October  13,  1907;  the  other  of  a 
bird  in  the  Garden  on  November  5,  1908. 
To  these  Mr.  Maurice  C.  Blake  adds  the 
record  of  three  birds  present  on  October  5, 
1904. 

64.  Northern  Shrike 

Lanius  horealis 

Mr.  Francis  H.  Allen  furnishes  this 
record:  "A  Northern  Shrike  in  the  Public 
Garden,  January  14,  1901,  singing." 

This  is  the  only  record  which  has  come  to 
my  knowledge  during  the  years,  1900- 1908. 
But  it  is  of  interest  to  place  here  another 
and  earlier  record.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Town- 
send  writes  me:  "I  looked  over  my  old 
journals  and  found  under  date  of  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1876:  '[My  brother]  saw  a 
Butcher-bird  or  Great  Northern  Shrike  on 
the  Common.  A  year  or  two  ago  I  saw  a 
man  shoot  one  here.'  I  remember  the  inci- 
dent very  well.  The  bird  was  on  the  Public 
Garden  at  the  northern  end  of  the  pond, 


I40    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

and  a  man  employed  by  the  city  shot  it. 
At  that  time  several  Butcher-birds  had  ap- 
peared and  were  feasting  on  the  English 
sparrows,  and  the  city  employed  a  man  to 
shoot  them  in  order  to  protect  the  imported 
pets." 

It  would  appear  from  this  incident  and 
testimony  that  in  former  years  the  North- 
ern Shrike  was  a  frequenter  of  the  Garden 
and  the  Common  as  a  winter  visitant  after 
the  house  sparrows  had  become  numerous 
there.  In  the  country  neighboring  Boston 
the  species  is  now  much  less  common  than 
formerly,  but  in  recent  winters  a  Butcher- 
bird has  usually  frequented  the  Fens. 

65.  Red-eyed  Vireo 

Vireosylva  olivacea 

The  Red-eyed  Vireo  is  not  a  common 
visitant  to  the  Garden,  yet  no  season  has 
lacked  at  least  one  record.  In  three  of  the 
years  a  single  bird  only  has  appeared,! 901, 
1902,  and  1903.  In  other  three  of  the  years 
of  observation  two  birds  successively  have 
come,   1904,    1906,   and    1907.     Probably 


RED-EYED   VIREO  141 

eight  different  Red-eyes  came  in  1905,  in 
which  year  five  singing  birds  were  recorded 
on  May  27.  Twice  the  arrival  of  the  species 
has  been  on  May  15  and  twice  on  May  16. 
The  arrival  in  other  seasons  has  been  be- 
tween May  18  and  23. 

There  is  no  record  of  a  bird  remaining 
more  than  two  or  three  days,  except  in 
1908.  In  that  year  one,  sometimes  two 
singing  birds  were  present  from  May  24  to 
June  I,  suggesting  a  not  improbable  nesting 
of  the  species.  Mr.  E.  E.  Caduc  informs 
me  that  he  heard  almost  daily  a  Red-eyed 
Vireo  singing  in  the  Garden  on  the  Charles 
Street  side  up  to  July  3  of  that  year  and  an- 
other on  the  Common.  As  he  left  the  city 
for  the  summer  on  that  day,  he  was  unable 
to  carry  the  record  further.  No  vireo's  nest 
was  discovered  on  the  leafless  boughs  in  the 
autumn  by  him  or  me.  Four  or  five  years 
earlier  a  beautiful,  well-preserved  nest  of 
the  summer  was  seen  on  the  Common  in  the 
autumn  and  winter  months  following,  to 
that  extent  testifying  to  a  nesting  of  either 
the  Red-eyed  or  the  Warbling  Vireo. 


142    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 
66.  Warbling  Vireo 

Vireosylva  gilva 

The  Warbling  Vireo  makes  its  appear- 
ance in  the  Garden  to  almost  the  same 
extent  as  the  red-eyed  vireo.  In  the  case 
of  this  species,  also,  there  have  been  three 
years,  1901,  1903,  and  1904,  when  one  bird 
only  has  been  recorded.  Probably  four 
birds  constitute  the  largest  number  which 
has  been  present  in  any  one  season,  namely, 
in  1906.  The  earliest  date  of  arrival  has 
been  May  9,  in  1900.  The  latest  date  on 
which  a  bird  has  been  recorded  was  May  27, 
in  1905.  In  1906  two  birds,  one  of  which 
sang  much,  extended  their  visit  from  May 
15  to  26,  and  may  have  nested  within  the 
Garden. 

67.  Yellow-throated  Vireo 

Lanivireo  flavijrons 

The  Yellow-throated  Vireo  has  appeared 
in  five  of  the  nine  seasons  of  observation, 
twice  in  two  of  the  seasons,  a  single  bird  on 
six  occasions,  and  two  birds  on  one  occa- 


BLACK  AND   WHITE  WARBLER     143 

sion,  namely,  May  7,  1905,  which  is  also  the 
day  of  the  earliest  appearance.  In  the  years 
1901,  1902,  1904,  and  1907  the  species  was 
not  recorded.  May  21  is  the  latest  date  on 
which  a  visitant  has  been  seen,  namely,  in 
1900  and  1903.  One  bird  only  has  been 
heard  to  sing.  No  visitant  has  remained 
to  a  second  day. 

68.  Blue-headed  Vireo 

Lanivireo  solitarius 

The  Blue-headed,  or  Solitary,  Vireo  has 
been  noted  in  four  of  the  seasons  only,  one 
bird  in  1901  and  1903  respectively,  and  two 
birds  in  each  of  the  years  1905  and  1907. 
Thus  there  have  been  six  appearances  of  the 
species  only,  and  these  have  occurred  be- 
tween May  13  and  21.  In  neither  instance 
has  the  visitant  sung  or  remained  over  to 
the  next  day. 

69.  Black  and  White  Warbler 

Mniotilta  varia 

The  Black  and  White  Warbler,  or  Black 
and  White  Creeper,  may  be  relied  upon  to 


144    BIRDS   OF   THE    PUBLIC   GARDEN 

make  several  successive  appearances  in  the 
Garden.  Three  or  four  visitants  in  a  sea- 
son constitute  the  rule.  Twice  the  usual 
number  were  recorded  in  1907  and  again  in 
1908.  Many  of  the  visitants  remain  three 
or  four  days.  In  1908  a  female  bird  was 
present  from  May  14  to  19,  six  days.  The 
earliest  appearance  was  on  April  30,  in 
1906,  one  bird.  In  1902  the  first  visitant, 
a  female  bird,  came  on  May  i.  In  1908 
the  first  visitant,  a  male  bird,  came  on  the 
same  date.  May  7  to  12  has  been  the  usual 
time  of  appearance  of  the  species.  The 
migration  has  commonly  extended  to  May 
21  or  22,  sometimes,  however,  ending  on 
May  17  or  18.  In  1908  it  extended  to  May 
25,  covering  twenty-five  days.  On  several 
occasions  two  or  three  birds  have  been 
present  on  the  same  day.  Not  infrequently 
the  visitant  has  been  in  song.  On  account 
of  the  creeping  habit  of  this  warbler  and 
its  rather  toneless  song,  it  may  be  more 
easily  overlooked  than  many  other  war- 
blers, whose  constant  flittings  among  the 
boughs  with  only  partially  developed  leaf- 
age are  more  likely  to  attract  attention. 


PROTHONOTARY   WARBLER  .      145 
70.  Prothonotary  Warbler 

Protonotaria  citrea 

In  the  forenoon  of  May  20,  1900,  Miss 
Isabel  P.  George,  while  crossing  the  Gar- 
den, observed  a  small  bird  in  bright  orange- 
yellow  plumage  flitting  in  the  air  from  the 
branches  of  willows  which  stand  beside  the 
pond,  repeatedly  sallying  out  over  the  water 
and  returning  again.  It  was  no  other  bird 
than  a  Prothonotary  Warbler.  The  observer 
remained  to  enjoy  it  for  fifteen  minutes, 
and  its  coloration  and  behavior  were  in- 
deHbly  impressed  upon  her  mind. 

In  the  same  forenoon  at  another  hour 
Miss  Calista  S.  Whitney,  who  was  linger- 
ing in  the  Garden  to  enjoy  the  migrant 
birds,  of  which  there  was  a  large  number 
on  that  day,  also  saw  this  bird  and  watched 
it  for  some  time,  noticing  similar  flittings 
out  over  the  water  of  the  pond  from  the 
willows  standing  on  the  shore. 

Dr.  Manning  K.  Rand  was  a  third  for- 
tunate observer  of  this  rare  warbler,  and  at 
the  time  similarly  described  its  appearance 


146    BIRDS   OF   THE    PUBLIC   GARDEN 

and  movements.  Dr.  Rand  writes  me  that 
he  saw  the  bird  on  May  19,  the  previous 
day. 

The  Prothonotary  Warbler,  upon  the  au- 
thority of  Chapman's  *'  Warblers  of  North 
America,'*  wanders  occasionally  northward 
to  Massachusetts.  It  has  not  been  my  priv- 
ilege to  see  one,  but  the  observations  here 
recorded  were  made  by  the  observers  inde- 
pendently of  each  other,  and  as  the  records 
of  careful  and  accurate  observers  are  en- 
tirely reliable. 

71.  Golden- WINGED  Warbler 

Helminthophila  chrysoptera 

In  the  largest  migration  movement  of 
the  year  1900,  which  occurred  on  May  19, 
as  manifested  in  the  Garden,  a  Golden- 
winged  Warbler  came,  a  female  bird.  It 
did  not  remain  to  a  second  day. 

72.  Nashville  Warbler 

Helminthophila  rubricapilla 

The  Nashville  Warbler  is  an  infrequent 
visitant  to  the  Garden.   In  four  of  the  nine 


TENNESSEE   WARBLER  147 

seasons,  namely,  in  1902,  1904,  1905,  and 
1907,  it  made  two  successive  appearances. 
In  four  other  years  it  was  not  recorded.  In 
1908  two  birds  were  on  the  Common  on 
May  12,  a  day  of  very  large  migration,  but 
none  was  in  the  Garden.  The  earliest  ar- 
rival of  the  species  was  in  1902,  May  5.  In 
other  seasons  the  first  visitant  has  been 
noted  on  May  13  or  14.  The  second  vis- 
itant of  the  season  has  three  times  come 
on  May  19  or  20,  once  on  May  15  and  re- 
mained to  the  second  day.  The  other  vis- 
itants have  been  recorded  on  one  day  only. 
In  three  instances  the  bird  was  singing. 

73.  Tennessee  Warbler 

Helminthophila  peregrina 

On  May  16,  1905,  when  the  number  of 
species  within  the  Garden  summed  up 
forty-one  and  the  number  of  migrants  was 
nearly  one  hundred,  a  male  Tennessee 
Warbler  was  seen.  The  bird  was  not  sing- 
ing. It  moved  among  the  branches  of  a 
large  English  elm. 

Again,  in  1908,  on  May  24,  a  second  re- 


148    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

cord  of  the  species  within  the  Garden  was 
obtained.  On  that  day  a  female  bird  was 
present.  It  was  first  seen  in  the  European 
beech  near  the  Everett  statue,  and  upon 
a  later  round  of  the  grounds  it  was  ob- 
served in  a  small  bed  of  rhododendrons 
growing  near  the  pond  and  afterwards  in 
saplings  which  stand  close  by  the  bed. 
Both  times  the  bird  was  well  seen  at  near 
range. 

74.  Parula  Warbler 

Compsothlypis  americana  usnem 

The  Parula  Warbler,  or  Blue  Yellow- 
backed  Warbler,  is  seldom  absent  a  day 
from  the  Garden  during  the  period  of  its 
migration.  The  number  of  birds  present  on 
the  same  day  has  varied  from  one  to  a 
dozen.  The  presence  of  three  to  five  birds 
at  the  same  time  is  not  unusual.  On  May 
19, 1907,  thirteen  birds  were  recorded.  The 
earliest  appearance  of  the  species  was  on 
May  2,  1906,  a  bird  in  song.  The  arrival 
season  by  season  has  usually  been  between 
May  7  and  14.  The  last  visitants  have  not 


CAPE   MAY   WARBLER  149 

departed  sometimes  before  May  27  or  28, 
although  May  22  to  24  has  been  the  time  of 
their  disappearance  in  six  of  the  nine  years. 
The  last  birds  have  sometimes  been  sing- 
ing males  and  sometimes  a  lone  female. 

The  species  was  more  abundantly  pre- 
sent in  1905  and  1907  than  in  other  sea- 
sons, the  larger  number  appearing  after  the 
middle  of  the  month  in  each  instance.  This 
is  true  of  other  seasons  also.  The.Parula 
Warbler  is  commonly  in  song.  There  were 
two  singing  birds  on  the  Common  on  May 
12,  1908,  while  there  were  three  in  the 
Garden. 

The  first  autumn  records  of  the  species 
were  obtained  in  1908,  a  Parula  Warbler 
being  noted  in  the  Garden  on  October  9 
and  another  on  October  17. 

75.  Cape  May  Warbler 

Dendroica  tigrina 

A  male  Cape  May  Warbler  appeared  in 
the  Garden  in  the  morning  of  May  11, 1902, 
and  remained  four  days,  at  times  singing 
freely.    He  frequented  one  section  of  the 


I50    BIRDS  OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

grounds.  So  he  could  usually  day  by  day 
be  found  there.  If  he  wandered  to  another 
section,  he  did  not  fail  to  return  again 
soon  to  his  wonted  area.  He  was  not  shy 
during  his  stay  and  constantly  afforded 
fine  opportunities  for  careful  observation 
of  his  markings.  His  great  activity  of 
movement  presented  the  only  difficulty  of 
remaining  near  him.  He  showed  a  prefer- 
ence for  the  trees  which  were  as  yet  more 
thinly  foliaged,  the  elms,  the  cottonwoods, 
and  the  willows,  rather  than  for  the  maples, 
the  horse-chestnuts,  and  the  hawthorns, 
and  was  often  in  the  lower  branches.  He 
was  once  seen  on  the  turf  at  the  border  of  a 
bed  of  yellow  tulips. 

On  another  occasion  in  the  early  morn- 
ing, with  desire  for  a  bath  he  dropped  down 
upon  the  granite  curbing  of  a  basin  inclos- 
ing a  small  fountain  and  tried  to  reach  the 
water,  but  it  proved  to  be  too  far  below  the 
stone  edging  to  permit  him  to  make  use  of 
it.  So  presently,  perceiving  that  he  could 
not  get  his  bath  there,  he  flew  to  the  heavily 
dew-laden  grass  and  with  shakings  of  the 


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CAPE   MAY   WARBLER  151 

wings  succeeded  in  throwing  the  dewdrops 
over  himself  and  obtaining  the  refresh- 
ment he  sought.  Then  well  wetted,  he  rose 
into  a  double-flowered  peach  tree  and  in 
happiness  finished  his  morning  toilet.  It 
seemed  a  pity  that  there  was  but  one  ob- 
server of  this  dainty  proceeding,  but  so  it 
was.  Upon  other  days  and  at  other  times 
there  were  many  interested  observers,  who 
availed  of  the  rare  opportunity  of  becom- 
ing acquainted  with  a  full-plumaged  Cape 
May  Warbler  often  voicing  himself  in  song. 

A  second  record  of  the  species  was  of  a 
female  bird  seen  on  May  26,  1905,  and  not 
remaining  to  a  second  day. 

In  1908  a  third  Cape  May  Warbler  came 
to  the  Garden  on  May  16,  a  female  bird, 
and  was  seen  by  a  group  of  interested  ob- 
servers after  I  had  discovered  its  presence. 
This  bird  moved  through  the  Garden  with 
exceeding  restlessness  and  rapidity.  It  was 
first  seen  in  trees  of  low  growth  near  the 
Everett  statue,  from  which  it  quickly  moved 
into  the  large  white  willow  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  pond.    Repeated  momentary 


152    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

views  of  the  little  visitant  were  obtained, 
making  its  identification  sure.  It  made 
constant  sallies  from  the  boughs  into  the 
air  after  the  manner  of  flycatchers.  Later 
it  moved  in  the  top  of  this  and  other  trees  in 
so  hidden  a  way  that  it  required  patience 
and  persistence  to  find  it  again.  At  length 
it  passed  by  an  extended  flight  over  to  an 
old  willow  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Arlington 
Street  Church.  Quickly  from  there  it  rose 
into  the  air  and  apparently  was  leaving  the 
Garden,  as  it  took  its  flight  out  over  Boyl- 
ston  Street  and  its  buildings.  But  presently 
it  was  seen  to  turn  in  its  course  and  come 
back  into  the  Garden,  alighting  in  the 
southeast  quarter  in  an  American  elm.  But 
hardly  had  it  rested  there,  when  it  rose 
again  and,  passing  over  the  centre  path,  lit 
in  one  of  the  large  willows  which  stand  be- 
side the  pond  in  the  northeast  quarter. 
Here  it  remained,  restlessly  moving  among 
the  boughs  of  this  and  other  neighboring 
trees,  furnishing  ample  opportunity  for 
successively  arriving  observers  to  view  it. 
The  pursuit  had  been  a  lively  one  and  had 


YELLOW  WARBLER  153 

been  carried  to  a  successful  termination, 
some  young  friends  assisting  much  to  keep 
track  of  the  flights  of  the  warbler  as  it 
passed  through  long  distances  of  air  from 
us.    It  was  present  upon  this  day  only. 

76.  Yellow  Warbler 

Dendroica  cBstiva 

The  Yellow  Warbler,  or  Summer  Yellow- 
bird,  becomes  a  somewhat  common  bird  in 
the  Garden  during  the  month  of  May,  but 
before  the  end  of  the  month  the  last  indi- 
viduals have  disappeared.  It  is  not  prob- 
able, therefore,  that  the  species  nests  within 
the  Garden.  Yet  there  may  have  been  ex- 
ceptions to  this  statement  unknown  to  the 
writer.  The  earliest  appearances  have  been 
on  May  3,  in  1905  and  1906.  In  other  years 
the  arrival  has  been  between  May  7  and  10, 
having  been  twice  on  May  8  and  three 
times  on  May  9.  The  earlier  birds  disap- 
pear and  are  succeeded  by  others.  This 
may  occur  two  or  three  times.  In  two 
seasons  only  has  the  Yellow  Warbler  re- 
mained beyond  May  24,  the  last  bird  usu- 


154    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

ally  departing  on  May  21,  22,  or  23.  But  in 
1904  three  birds  were  present  on  May  26 
and  in  1908  two  singing  males  were  present 
up  to  May  27.  There  has  been  no  exten- 
sion of  stay  over  this  time. 

Two,  three,  or  four  Yellow  Warblers  are 
all  there  are  usually  in  the  Garden  in  any 
one  day,  and  many  days  one  only  has  been 
present.  But  five  birds  were  recorded  on 
May  14,  1907,  three  males  and  two  females, 
and  the  same  number  on  May  26,  1908, 
four  being  male  birds.  The  males  sing. 

77.  Black-throated  Blue  Warbler 

Dendroica  ccBrulescens 

From  two  to  four  Black-throated  Blue 
Warblers  have  been  recorded  in  six  of  the 
nine  seasons.  In  1908  there  were  six  vis- 
itants of  the  species.  In  1901  and  1904  no 
bird  was  noted.  The  earliest  appearance 
was  on  May  7,  1905,  when  a  male  bird 
arrived  in  song.  The  first  visitants  have 
variously  come  between  May  7  and  19,  but 
usually  between  May  9  and  13.  The  last 
one  generally  departs  between  May  21  and 


MYRTLE  WARBLER  155 

24.  Many  of  the  visitants  have  made  stays 
of  several  days.  In  one  instance  a  female 
bird,  presumably  the  same  bird,  remained 
eight  days,  from  May  10  to  17,  in  1902. 
Several  times  male  birds  have  remained 
from  five  to  seven  days.  It  is  usual  for  them 
to  sing.  One  visitant  was  heard  singing  on 
the  Common  on  May  12,  1908. 

78.  Myrtle  Warbler 

Dendroica  coronata 

The  Myrtle  Warbler,  or  Yellow-rumped 
Warbler,  regularly  appears  in  the  Garden. 
In  1903  but  one  visitant  was  recorded,  a 
male  bird  in  song  on  April  30.  Usually 
from  six  to  twelve  birds  appear  successively 
in  a  season,  one  or  two  to  four  at  a  time. 
Seven  were  present  together  on  May  19, 
1907.  The  earliest  appearance  of  the  species 
was  on  April  17,  1902.  The  time  of  arrival 
has  varied  between  April  17  and  May  18, 
which  late  date  was  in  1904,  when  birds 
were  present  only  from  May  18  to  20.  Late 
April  and  early  May  are  the  more  usual 
times.    The  migration  commonly  extends 


156    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

to  May  20  to  22.  The  latest  record  is  of  a 
male  bird  present  on  May  25,  1905.  Some- 
times visitants  have  remained  four  or  five 
days.  The  males  are  often  singing.  Occa- 
sionally a  visitant  has  been  seen  or  heard 
on  the  Common. 

Quite  as  regularly  the  Myrtle  Warbler 
again  visits  the  Garden  in  October,  and 
in  about  the  same  numbers  as  in  the  spring. 
Nearly  twenty  came  successively  in  Octo- 
ber, 1908.  During  the  last  week  of  this 
month  the  last  usually  depart,  but  there 
have  been  two  or  three  early  November 
records,  one  being  of  five  birds  present  on 
November  4,  1906,  and  another  of  one  bird 
on  November  9,  1903. 

79.  Magnolia  Warbler 

Dendroica  magnolia 

The  Magnolia  Warbler,  or  Black  and 
Yellow  Warbler,  has  been  a  visitant  to  the 
Garden  in  the  spring  to  about  the  same 
extent  as  the  Myrtle  Warbler.  The  num- 
bers of  the  two  species  have  averaged  very 
nearly  alike,  about  sixty  birds  each  in  the 


CHESTNUT-SIDED   WARBLER       157 

period  of  nine  years.  In  1901  but  one  vis- 
itant was  recorded,  a  male  on  May  22.  In 
1907  probably  fifteen  birds  came  succes- 
sively. There  were  ten  present  together 
from  May  19  to  22,  eight  males  and  two 
females.  Most  of  the  records  are  of  a  single 
bird  or  of  two  or  three  birds.  The  earliest 
arrival  was  on  May  9,  1902,  three  birds. 
First  appearances  have  varied  between 
this  date  and  May  22.  The  middle  of  the 
month,  May  12  to  16,  is  the  more  usual 
time  of  arrival.  On  either  May  22,  23,  or 
24  the  last  bird  usually  departs.  In  1907, 
when  ten  birds  were  present  on  May  22, 
but  one  remained  on  May  24,  and  this 
bird  was  not  noted  on  the  following  day. 
In  1908  a  male  and  a  female  were  present 
on  May  27,  but  were  not  noted  later.  It  is 
not  unusual  to  hear  one  of  its  forms  of  song. 

80.  Chestnut-sided  Warbler 

Dendroica  pensylvanica 

The  Chestnut-sided  Warbler  has  been 
absent  from  the  list  of  the  season  but  once, 
in  1904.   Usually  there  is  a  fair  representa- 


158    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

tion  of  the  species,  four  to  six  birds  being 
present  in  a  season.  In  1907  nine  birds 
were  recorded,  six  being  present  together 
on  May  19,  three  males  and  three  females. 
The  earliest  appearance  of  the  species  was 
on  May  4,  1906,  a  male  bird.  In  three  of 
the  seasons  the  first  comer  has  arrived  on 
May  9,  namely,  in  1900,  1902,  and  1905. 
In  1903  there  was  but  one  record,  two 
birds  appearing  on  May  22,  which  is  the 
latest  date  of  the  first  appearance.  Either 
on  May  22,  23,  or  24  the  last  visitant  has 
departed.  The  presence  of  a  female  bird 
on  May  26,  1906,  forms  a  single  exception. 
The  records  indicate  that  a  visitant  some- 
times remains  four  days.  Two  birds  were 
seen  on  the  Common  on  May  12,  1908. 
The  males  sing. 

81.  Bay-breasted  Warbler 

Dendroica  castanea 

There  are  two  records  of  the  Bay-breasted 
Warbler.  On  May  23,  1900,  a  male  bird 
was  present  in  the  Garden.  It  did  not  re- 
main to  a  second  day.    And  on  May  22, 


BLACK-POLL   WARBLER  159 

1903,  again  for  a  day  only,  a  female  bird 
was  seen. 

The  male  bird  was  singing  his  slight  song 
at  the  time  of  observation  in  one  of  the 
large  willows  about  the  pond.  It  was  a  day 
when  fifteen  species  of  warblers  were 
present,  including  a  Blackburnian  and  a 
Chat,  and  when  four  male  scarlet  tana- 
gers  were  flashing  their  brilliancy  about 
the  pond.  The  female  Bay-breast  appeared 
with  eleven  other  species  of  warblers,  in- 
cluding two  Blackburnians,  a  male  and  a 
female. 

82.  Black-poll  Warbler 

Dendroica  striata 

The  Black-poll  Warbler  never  has  failed 
to  appear  in  the  Garden  in  the  spring  sea- 
son, several  birds  at  a  time  usually  and 
in  several  successive  flocks.  The  little 
flocks  also  remain  usually  several  days. 
The  largest  numbers  which  have  been  re- 
corded in  any  one  day  were  nine  on  May 
27,  1905,  and  thirteen  on  May  27,  1908. 
The  earliest  appearance  of  the  species  was 


i6o    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

on  May  7,  1905,  when  one  male  bird  was 
present.  The  next  earliest  date  was  May 
10,  in  1904,  a  male  bird  in  song.  From 
May  13  to  17  is  the  usual  time  of  arrival, 
and  then  commonly  a  single  male  bird  has 
come.  After  the  middle  of  May  the  small 
flocks  appear,  three  to  six  birds.  The  last 
are  still  lingering  when  the  season's  obser- 
vations have  been  closed,  the  time  varying 
from  May  27  to  June  2.  Some  visitants 
probably  remain  five  or  six  days  or  even 
longer.  The  willows  about  the  pond  are 
the  favorite  trees  of  this  species. 

The  song  is  commonly  heard  through- 
out the  migration  season.  On  May  19, 1908, 
a  Black-poll  sang  an  unusual  song,  as  he 
flitted  about  through  the  top  of  the  big 
white  poplar  on  the  Boylston  Street  side  of 
the  Garden.  A  few  notes,  sometimes  only 
two,  were  given  in  the  usual  way,  and  then 
the  song  ran  up  like  a  Blackburnian  war- 
bler's, much  accelerated  to  the  end.  Occa- 
sionally he  gave  the  regular  song,  although 
somewhat  abbreviated,  affording  a  com- 
parison of  the  two  forms.    The  closing  of 


BLACK-POLL   WARBLER  i6i 

the  peculiar  song  when  heard  at  a  distance, 
strange  to  say,  somewhat  suggested  a  weak 
song  of  the  downy  woodpecker.  Ten  days 
later  two  Black-polls  within  the  Garden 
sang  a  song  resembling  the  chipping  spar- 
row's trill,  only  shorter. 

Mr.  Maurice  C.  Blake  furnishes  three 
early  autumn  records  of  the  Black-poll 
Warbler  in  the  Garden  in  its  migration 
south,  namely,  one  of  eighteen  birds  on 
September  24  and  one  of  seven  birds 
on  October  5,  in  1904,  and  one  of  a  single 
bird  on  September  8,  1905. 

During  the  last  five  years  and  also  in 
1900  I  saw  a  few  Black-poll  Warblers  in 
the  Garden  in  October,  and  in  1904  and 
again  in  1908,  the  movement  to  almost  the 
end  of  the  month  was  continuous  and  abun- 
dant, ten  birds  being  recorded  on  October 
17  and  thirteen  birds  on  October  23,  in 
1904,  while  in  1908  nineteen  were  counted 
on  October  10,  twelve  of  them  being 
among  the  branches  of  one  sycamore  maple, 
twenty-one  on  October  14,  and  seventeen 
on  October  19 ;  upon  the  intervening  days  in 


i62    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

each  instance  the  numbers  were  smaller. 
These  figures  indicate  how  abundant  the 
migration  of  Black-polls  was  in  the  autumn 
of  these  two  years,  especially  the  latter. 
The  latest  lingering  birds,  two  in  number, 
were  seen  in  1900  on  November  2. 

83.  Blackburnian  Warbler 

Dendroica  UackhurnicB 

The  Garden  has  received  a  few  visits 
from  the  Blackburnian  Warbler.  In  six 
of  the  years  of  observation  the  Blackburn- 
ian has  been  present.  In  four  of  these  sea- 
sons a  second  visitant,  or  two,  has  come  a 
few  days  after  the  first.  All  of  the  records 
are  of  male  birds  except  one.  On  May  24, 
1908,  a  female  bird  was  present  with  a 
male.  Neither  remained  to  a  second  day. 
Usually  the  song  has  been  heard.  In  two 
instances  the  visitant  has  stayed  four  and 
five  days  respectively ;  in  the  first  instance, 
1900,  from  May  19  to  23;  in  the  second 
instance,  1907,  from  May  19  to  22.  The 
earliest  appearance  of  the  species  was  on 
May  10,  in  1900.    In  four  of  the  years  a 


BLACKBURNIAN   WARBLER         163 

Blackburnian  Warbler  has  been  in  the 
Garden  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  May, 
having  arrived  on  that  day.  The  latest 
date  to  which  a  visitant  has  remained  has 
been  May  24,  in  1905  and  again  in  1908. 

This  warbler  is  usually  in  the  larger  trees 
—  elms,  willows,  or  maples  —  and  in  the 
higher  branches.  A  very  favorite  tree  of 
the  species  is  a  large,  ill-shaped  willow  near 
Arlington  Street  and  almost  opposite  the 
church.  Here  several  of  the  visitants  have 
been  seen,  together  with  other  warblers. 
In  1907  the  visitant  frequented  a  large 
silver  maple  near  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
pond,  sometimes  passing  into  other  trees 
beside  this ;  but  during  his  four  days*  stay 
he  was  seen  in  this  tree  each  morning  — 
a  marked  instance  of  chosen  limitation  of 
range  while  remaining. 

On  May  20,  1900,  in  cool  and  clouded 
conditions  of  weather  a  Blackburnian 
Warbler  was  seen  upon  one  of  the  grass- 
plots,  finding  his  food  on  the  surface.  On 
the  grass  with  him  were  also  magnolia, 
black-poll,  chestnut-sided,    black- throated 


i64    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

green,  and  Canadian  warblers.  There  had 
been  a  thick  northeasterly  rainstorm  the 
preceding  day,  and  it  may  be  surmised 
that  the  insect  life  on  which  these  warblers 
feed  had  been  washed  from  the  atmos- 
phere and  the  trees  to  the  ground  and  was 
found  there.  The  occasion  afforded  a  rare 
opportunity  to  view  these  warblers  in  the 
open  and  below  the  level  of  the  eye,  as  they 
moved  about  upon  the  lawns. 

84.  Black-throated  Green  Warbler 

Dendroica  virens 

The  'Black-throated  Green  Warbler  has 
not  failed  to  come  to  the  Garden  every  year ; 
usually  several  birds  appear.  In  1905  two 
birds,  both  singing,  appeared  on  May  7, 
the  earliest  appearance  of  the  species  in 
any  year.  These  were  followed  by  four 
other  birds  successively  at  intervals,  two 
male  birds  and  two  female  birds,  the  last 
female  coming  on  May  26,  which  is  the 
latest  date  for  the  presence  of  the  species. 
In  this  year,  therefore,  the  migration  cov- 
ered twenty  days.   In  1902  three  visitants 


BLACK-THROATED  GREEN  WARBLER  165 

were  present  on  May  9,  but  they  did  not 
remain.  Usually  the  several  appearances 
have  been  within  the  space  of  eight  days, 
May  13  to  20.  In  a  few  instances  the  stay 
of  the  visitant  has  been  extended  to  the 
second  day,  but  usually  the  birds  have 
remained  one  day  only.  It  is  not  unusual 
to  hear  the  song,  and  yet  it  is  given  but 
little.  After  a  few  repetitions  the  songster 
has  commonly  ceased  singing,  and  it  has 
been  difficult  to  trace  his  presence  longer. 
It  has  seemed  sometimes  as  if  the  visitant 
must  have  left  the  Garden,  perhaps  seek- 
ing at  once  the  white  pines  which  this  war- 
bler loves  so  well.  On  May  12,  1908,  one 
was  singing  on  the  Common. 

Three  times  a  Black-throated  Green 
Warbler  has  visited  the  Garden  in  October, 
once  each  season  in  1904,  1906,  and  1908, 
in  all  three  instances  on  October  13 ;  none 
remained  to  a  second  day. 


i66    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC  GARDEN 

85.  Pine  Warbler 

Dendroica  vigorsii 

The  only  visit  in  the  Garden  of  a  Pine 
Warbler,  or  Pine  Creeper,  which  has  come 
under  observation,  was  on  April  5,  1903. 
It  was  seen  upon  the  trees  of  the  small 
island.  A  sharp  drop  of  forty  degrees  in 
the  temperature  had  occurred,  and  a  brisk 
northwest  wind  was  blowing ;  but  the  high 
temperature  of  the  preceding  day  with 
fresh  southwesterly  winds  had  caused  a 
new  movement  of  migrants  bringing  with 
the  Pine  Warbler  to  the  Garden  several 
phoebes,  two  hermit  thrushes,  a  swamp 
sparrow,  and  a  further  accession  of  robins. 
The  visit  was  not  prolonged  to  a  second 
day. 

86.  Palm  Warbler 

Dendroica  palmarum 

On  October  17,  1904,  a  Palm,  or  Red- 
poll, Warbler  appeared  in  the  Garden.  It 
was  unaccompanied  by  other  redpoll  war- 
blers, either    palm   or  yellow  palm.   The 


YELLOW   PALM   WARBLER  167 

soiled  whitish  throat  and  breast  and  pure 
yellow  lower  belly  and  under  tail-coverts 
made  it  certain  that  it  was  a  Palm  War- 
bler. The  visitant  remained  mostly  upon 
the  grass  during  observation,  wagged  the 
tail  but  little,  and  gave  its  call-note  repeat- 
edly. 

87.  Yellow  Palm  Warbler 

Dendroica  palmarum  hypochrysea 

A  little  flock  of  Yellow  Palm,  or  Yellow 
Redpoll,  Warblers  came  in  each  of  the 
years  1901,  1902,  and  1903.  The  first  visit 
was  of  three  birds  on  May  i  to  the  Common ; 
the  second  visit  was  of  six  birds  to  the  Gar- 
den on  April  23  and  24,  one  remaining  to 
April  28 ;  and  the  third  visit  also  to  the 
Garden  was  of  three  birds  on  April  29.  The 
first  company  sang  freely.  No  bird  of  the 
species  was  again  noted  in  the  spring  until 
1908,  when  three  birds  appeared  singly  on 
April  15,  23,  and  29  respectively,  the  second 
one  on  the  Common. 

There  have  been  three  autumn  records 
for  the  Garden:  one  of  a  bird  on  October 


i68    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

19,  1902 ;  one  of  a  bird  on  October  18,  1904 ; 
and  one  of  a  bird  on  October  17,  1906. 

No  explanation  of  the  absence  of  the 
species  in  the  spring  during  four  years 
suggests  itself. 

88.  Prairie  Warbler 

Dendroica  discolor 

The  Prairie  Warbler  is  a  rare  visitant  to 
the  Garden.  Three  visits  have  been  re- 
corded. The  first  was  of  a  bird  on  May  23, 
1900;  the  second  was  of  one  on  May  19, 
1905,  in  song ;  the  third  was  of  one  on  May 
15, 1907,  and  continued  during  the  two  days 
following.  The  last  visitant  sang  much  his 
song  of  many  zees  repeated  rapidly.  This 
bird  frequented  the  group  of  large  elms  op- 
posite the  entrance  from  Newbury  Street. 

89.  Oven-bird 

Seiurus  aurocapillus 

Several  Oven-birds,  or  Golden-crowned 
Thrushes,  every  year  have  visited  the 
Garden,  with  two  exceptions  coming  singly 
at  first,  and  later  often  two  or  three  birds 


m: 

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sUH 

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m-rr 

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THE   OLD  WILLOW  GROUP 


OVEN-BIRD  169 

or  more  together.  But  five  birds  arrived  on 
May  14, 1907,  and  eight  were  seen  on  May 
12,  1908,  one  other  being  on  the  Common. 
Some  of  the  visitants  apparently  make 
a  prolonged  stay.  One  bird  in  1900  was 
noted  daily  from  May  14  to  21,  eight  days; 
another  in  1904  from  May  11  to  17,  seven 
days;  another  in  1905  from  May  16  to  21, 
six  days;  another  in  1908  from  May  13  to 
19,  seven  days.  The  earliest  appearance  of 
the  species  was  on  May  7,  1905,  the  most 
delayed  appearance  on  May  21,  1903.  In 
the  seven  other  years  between  May  9  and 
14  the  first  Oven-bird  has  come  and  been 
followed  by  others  in  succession  to  May 
21  to  26.  The  latest  bird  recorded  remained 
to  May  29,  in  1907. 

The  song  has  been  heard  on  many  occa- 
sions. In  one  instance  the  songster  was  in 
shrubbery  nearly  opposite  the  Arlington 
Street  Church,  and  on  a  quiet  Sunday 
morning  in  May  at  an  early  hour  earnestly 
gave  his  crescendo  song  again  and  again. 
Sometimes  one  has  been  seen  to  pursue 
its  sedate  walk  on  the  sidewalk  outside  of 


I70    BIRDS   OF   THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

the  Garden,  thus  promenading  the  public 
street.  The  demure,  leisurely  walk  of  the 
Oven-bird,  often  taken  at  little  distance 
from  the  observer,  makes  it  an  easy  bird  to 
identify  as  it  moves  under  the  budding 
lower  branches  of  the  great  beeches  or 
about  the  stocks  of  a  cluster  of  shrubs. 

Repeatedly  when  a  bird  has  remained 
several  days,  it  has  been  found  morning 
by  morning  in  the  small  section  of  the 
grounds  where  it  was  seen  on  the  first  day, 
seeming  to  roam  only  within  a  very  limited 
area.  So  day  after  day,  when  it  has  been 
looked  for  in  this  area,  it  has  been  at  once 
seen  and  for  another  day  placed  in  the  re- 
cord. One  such  long-tarrying  bird  made  the 
fence  line  on  Arlington  Street  near  Beacon 
Street  its  promenade  and  proceeded  in  its 
moderate  way  back  and  forth  under  the 
overhanging  vines  or  about  the  near  shrubs 
day  by  day  for  seven  days.  I  have  walked 
by  this  bird  at  only  fifteen  feet  distance, 
and  it  paid  me  no  heed. 


NORTHERN   WATER-THRUSH       171 
90.  Northern  Water-thrush 

Seiurus  noveboracensis 

Northern  Water-thrushes  visit  the  Gar- 
den in  about  equal  numbers  with  the  Oven- 
bird.  The  comparison  is  somewhat  in  favor 
of  the  Water- thrush.  The  species  makes  its 
appearance  on  about  the  same  dates  as  the 
Oven-bird.  Thus  the  earHest  appearance 
was  on  May  7,  in  1902.  No  first-comer  has 
arrived  later  than  May  17,  which  opened 
the  record  in  1903.  In  the  seven  other 
years  the  first  Water-thrush  has  come  be- 
tween May  9  and  13.  A  single  bird  has 
always  arrived  first,  and  this  has  soon  been 
followed  by  others.  Five  came  together 
on  May  15,  1905,  and  the  same  number 
again  on  May  12,  1908.  Four  or  five  days 
appear  to  constitute  the  longest  time  any 
ndividuals  have  remained.  Such  a  stay 
has  been  made  by  visitants  a  few  times. 
The  latest  birds  have  remained  variously 
to  May  20  to  27.  The  rather  loud  and  clear 
song  has  often  been  heard. 

The  Water- thrush,  like  the  Oven-bird, 


172    BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

walks,  but  in  so  doing  constantly  wags  its 
tail.  It  seeks  the  vicinity  of  the  pond  rather 
than  the  shaded  areas  under  the  larger 
trees  and  often  walks  on  the  stone  curbing 
surrounding  the  pond  in  its  desire  to  be 
near  the  water.  It  also  seeks  groups  of 
trees  or  shrubs  standing  near  the  pond  and 
their  protection,  and  it  frequently  perches 
high  in  these  to  escape  the  intruder  or 
to  pour  forth  its  song.  In  escape,  when 
frightened,  it  often  flies  a  considerable 
distance,  showing  a  marked  degree  of  fear. 
The  Oven-bird,  on  the  other  hand,  being 
less  shy  and  seemingly  unsuspicious  of  harm, 
seeks  only  the  branches  of  a  near  tree  and 
counts  itself  secure. 

One  Northern  Water-thrush  has  been 
seen  in  the  autumn  in  the  Garden,  namely, 
on  October  8  and  9,  in  1908.  Mr.  Maurice 
C.  Blake  furnishes  one  other  record,  that 
of  a  bird  present  on  September  24,  1904. 


CONNECTICUT   WARBLER  173 

91.  Connecticut  Warbler 

Oporornis  agilis 

A  Connecticut  Warbler  visited  the  Garden 
on  October  17,  1908.  It  was  first  seen  in  a 
bed  of  roses  near  Arlington  Street  and  the 
centre  path.  From  this  it  presently  passed 
to  a  Pyrus  Japonica  bush  and  then  into  a 
near  beech,  giving  occasionally  a  strong, 
sharp  call-note.  The  next  morning  the 
visitant  was  seen  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Garden  in  a  bed  of  hardy  azaleas,  from 
which  it  moved  into  other  beds  and  then 
into  a  beech  standing  near.  Its  call-note, 
distinctive  from  that  of  the  black-polls 
which  were  present,  served  to  locate  the 
bird  when  the  observer  was  at  some  dis- 
tance. The  two  following  mornings  it  oc- 
cupied the  same  section  as  upon  the  second 
day,  being  seen  in  a  sycamore  maple  which 
was  much  frequented  by  the  black-polls. 
The  visit  of  this  Connecticut  Warbler, 
therefore,  covered  four  days. 


174    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 
92.  Maryland  Yellow-throat 

Geothlypis  trichas 

The  Maryland  Yellow-throat  is  a  quite 
common  visitant  to  the  Garden.  Its  earliest 
appearance  in  the  nine  years  was  on  May 
3,  1905,  when  three  male  birds  were  seen. 
The  preceding  year  the  first  bird  appeared 
on  May  4,  a  male  bird  in  song.  In  other 
years  the  time  of  arrival  has  been  between 
May  9  and  14.  The  period  of  migration  has 
variously  covered  from  ten  to  twenty-four 
days,  the  latter  period  in  1905.  In  1907  it 
covered  seventeen  days,  May  13  to  29 ;  in 
1908,  twenty  days,  May  10  to  29.  Usually 
the  last  birds  of  the  species  have  passed  on 
May  22  to  26.  Five  or  six  Yellow-throats 
have  often  been  noted  upon  the  same  day, 
and  such  little  flocks  have  sometimes  re- 
mained several  days.  The  song  from  time' 
to  time  has  been  heard.  Following  their 
usual  habit,  the  Yellow-throats  are  com- 
monly in  the  larger  individual  shrubs  or 
the  shrub-groups,  rather  than  in  the  trees, 
but  sometimes  they  are  in  the  larger  trees 


YELLOW-BREASTED   CHAT  175 

with  other  warblers.  They  also  frequent  the 
flower-beds,  moving  among  the  blossoming 
tulips  or  bedded  plants. 

In  1908  seven  male  Yellow- throats  were 
present  in  the  Garden  on  May  12,  and  two 
others  were  seen  on  the  Common.  A  female 
bird  in  that  year  remained  from  May  24 
to  29,  being  seen  daily.  In  1907  the  latest 
lingering  bird  was  a  male  in  song,  which  de- 
parted also  on  May  29. 

One  autumn  visitant  has  been  recorded, 
a  female  bird,  which  was  seen  on  October 
17,  1908,  the  same  day  which  brought  the 
Connecticut  warbler  and  a  northern  parula 
warbler  to  the  Garden.  This  bird  gave  no 
call-note  and  moved  so  quietly  and  hid- 
denly  among  the  plants  that  it  was  almost 
overlooked.  It  did  not  remain  to  a  second 
day. 

93.  Yellow-breasted  Chat 

Icteria  virens 

In  1900  the  Yellow-breasted  Chat  gave 
promise  of  being  a  more  frequent  visitor 
to  the  Garden  than  it  has  since  proved.  In 


176    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

that  year  on  May  9  one  was  present ;  again 
on  May  18  one  came  and  remained  three 
days,  and  another  arriving  on  the  20th 
remained  four  days,  presumably  the  same 
bird.  So  the  Chat  was  recorded  upon  six 
days  in  succession  in  that  season.  On  May 
20  two  were  seen  together.  They  were 
much  upon  the  grass  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Washington  equestrian  statue  in 
company  with  other  warblers,  all  of  whom 
were  finding  their  food  upon  or  near  the 
surface  after  a  severe  easterly  storm. 

It  was  not  until  the  season  of  1905  that 
another  Chat  was  seen  in  the  Garden.  This 
visitor  was  present  from  May  16  to  18.  It 
was  first  seen  by  Dr.  C.  W.  Townsend  on 
the  first  mentioned  day.  It  frequented  the 
northeast  quarter,  making  use  of  groups 
of  trees  and  shrubs  near  the  pond. 

In  1908  again  a  Chat  came  to  the  Garden, 
arriving  on  May  12.  Mr.  Thomas  S.  Brad- 
lee  called  my  attention  to  it,  while  we  sat 
upon  one  of  the  benches  awaiting  its  ap- 
pearance, for  Mr.  Bradlee  had  already  dis- 
covered its  presence.  The  bird  came  to  the 


WILSON'S   WARBLER  177 

ground  near  us  and  immediately  behind 
the  garden-seat.  This  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Everett  statue,  the  Chat  making 
use  of  the  European  beech  which  stands 
near  to  conceal  itself  in  when  startled.  It 
was  not  seen  the  following  day. 

Although  Chats  naturally  seek  the  ground, 
shyness  of  persons  who  approach,  going  to 
and  fro,  usually  drives  the  visitors  much  into 
the  trees,  and  they  show  themselves  very 
secretive  and  elusive.  No  one  of  the  birds 
has  been  heard  to  sing  or  seen  to  perform 
any  of  the  queer  antics  which  conditions 
of  wildness  inspire. 

94.  Wilson's  Warbler 

Wilsonia  pusilla 

The  Wilson's  Warbler,  or  Wilson's  Black- 
cap, may  be  depended  upon  to  make  suc- 
cessive visits  to  the  Garden,  appearing  in 
the  middle  of  the  month  of  May.  May  15, 
1905,  marked  its  earliest  appearance  until 
the  year  1908,  when  a  male  bird  came  to 
the  Garden  on  May  10  and  a  male  and  a 
female  on   May   12,  while  there  was  also 


178    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

a  singing  male  bird  on  the  Common.  In 
three  of  the  years  it  has  first  appeared  on 
May  1 6.  In  1901  its  coming  was  delayed 
to  May  22,  and  only  two  birds  were  noted 
in  that  season.  The  last  visitants  have 
usually  passed  on  May  23  to  26,  although  in 
1907  the  migration  extended  to  the  end  of 
the  month  and  one  bird  was  present  and 
in  song  on  May  30.  Commonly  the  male 
birds  sing. 

On  May  19,  1907,  ten  Wilson's  Warblers 
were  present,  male  and  female,  and  five  or 
six  birds  were  recorded  on  the  three  days 
following.  On  some  days  of  the  migration 
period,  which  variously  covers  one  to  two 
weeks,  a  single  bird  only  has  been  recorded, 
but  there  has  been  scarcely  a  day  within 
the  period  of  each  season  when  one  or 
several  birds  have  not  been  present.  This 
warbler  frequents  the  larger  trees  about  the 
pond,  but  may  also  be  found  in  the  groups 
of  shrubs  or  in  the  English  hawthorns. 
The  black  cap  on  the  crown  of  the  male 
bird,  allowing  the  yellow  of  the  forehead  to 
show  below  it,  is  a  distinguishing  mark. 


CANADIAN   WARBLER  179 

95.  Canadian  Warbler 

Wilsonia  canadensis 

The  Canadian  Warbler,  or  Canada  Fly- 
catcher, comes  almost  as  regularly  to  the 
Garden  and  appears  nearly  as  numerously 
there  as  the  preceding  species.  It  usually 
arrives  a  little  later  than  the  Wilson's  and 
passes  on  with  it.  The  earliest  appearance 
was  in  1905,  on  May  12,  when  a  male  bird  in 
song  was  seen  More  visitants  were  noted 
that  year  than  in  any  other  year  of  obser- 
vation, five  or  six  birds  being  present  each 
day  between  May  17  and  24  and  three  re- 
maining up  to  May  27.  The  male  birds 
have  been  perhaps  less  in  song  than  has 
been  the  case  with  the  Wilson's  warbler, 
although  the  song  has  not  infrequently 
been  heard.  The  visitants  are  likely  to  be 
in  any  of  the  tree  or  shrub  growth  about 
the  Garden.  The  black  necklace  upon  the 
yellow  breast  distinguishes  the  Canadian 
Warbler,  the  female  birds  wearing  it  as 
well  as  the  male  birds,  only  less  conspicu- 
ously. 


i8o    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 
96.  American  Redstart 

Setophaga  ruticilla 

The  American  Redstart  comes  to  the 
Garden  and  passes  out  again  like  all  of  the 
other  warblers.  It  may  be  that  occasionally 
a  pair  has  nested  there  or  on  the  Common. 
The  earliest  appearance  of  the  Redstart 
was  in  1905,  when  a  male  bird  came  to  the 
Garden  on  May  9.  In  1908  three  male 
birds  came  on  May  12.  Usually  it  has  been 
quite  the  middle  of  May  before  the  arrival 
has  been  noted,  May  14  to  18.  Three  to 
five  birds  have  often  been  present  together. 
Six  Redstarts  were  in  the  Garden  on 
May  24,  1908.  Perhaps  not  more  than  a 
dozen  birds  have  appeared  in  any  one  sea- 
son; sometimes  only  four  or  five. 

The  male  birds  sing  freely.  The  visitants 
frequent  the  larger  and  taller  trees.  Some- 
times a  young  male  in  a  plumage  resem- 
bling that  of  the  female  has  been  seen 
singing  like  the  adult  male.  In  1907,  and 
again  in  1908,  a  Redstart  was  singing  in 
the  Garden  up  to  the  end  of  May,  having 


CATBIRD  18 1 

been  present  eight  or  ten  days,  but  he  then 
disappeared. 

One  late  autumn  migrant  has  been  re- 
corded, namely,  a  young  male  or  a  female 
bird  on  October  12,  1907. 

97.  American  Pipit 

Anthus  rubescens 

No  spring  records  have  been  obtained. 
The  species  is  a  much  rarer  migrant  through 
New  England  in  the  spring  than  in  the  fall. 

On  October  23, 1904,  an  American  Pipit, 
or  Titlark,  was  heard  calHng  as  it  passed 
over  the  Garden  in  the  early  morning.  On 
October  13,  1907,  a  flock  of  eleven  birds 
was  counted,  as  they  passed  in  flight,  and 
again  on  October  19  of  the  same  year  an- 
other flock  of  twenty-one  birds  as  they  flew 
over.  On  October  27,  1908,  a  single  Pipit 
was- seen  flying  over  southward. 

98.  Catbird 

Dumetella  carolinensis 

Catbirds  regularly  come  to  the  Garden 
and  pass  on  during  a  period  of  two  or  three 


i82    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

weeks.  The  earliest  arrival  of  a  Catbird 
was  in  1906,  on  April  30,  one  bird.  Several 
seasons  their  appearance  has  been  delayed 
to  the  middle  of  May,  May  12  to  15 ;  both 
in  1907  and  1908  it  was  upon  May  12.  In 
1905,  and  again  in  1907  and  1908,  the 
visitants  were  comparatively  abundant. 
Probably  twenty  individuals  in  the  first 
two  named  years  and  sixteen  in  the  last 
year  paid  the  Garden  a  visit,  some  remain- 
ing several  days.  Thirteen  birds  were  re- 
corded on  May  19,  1907,  and  nine  were 
seen  on  May  12,  1908.  Usually  not  more 
than  four  or  five  are  present  at  the  same 
time. 

Catbirds  are  late  in  getting  away,  May 
23  to  25  usually  marking  their  disappear- 
ance; in  1907  one  bird  remained  to  May 
28,  and  in  1908  a  bird  in  song  to  May  26. 
Occasionally  only  has  the  song  been  heard. 
Usually  the  visitors  are  silent,  the  call 
seldom  having  been  heard.  Following  its 
bent  for  hiding-places,  the  Catbird  seeks 
the  screen  which  the  shrubs  growing  close 
to  the  ground  or  the   beds  of  rhododen- 


BROWN   THRASHER  183 

drons  furnish,  and  it  slyly  emerges  there- 
from when  it  feels  it  safe  to  do  so. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend  furnishes  an 
interesting  winter  record  of  a  Catbird  seen 
in  the  Garden  on  December  22,  25,  and  2"] 
in  1904,  it  having  been  reported  as  present 
previous  to  the  first  mentioned  day. 

99.  Brown  Thrasher 

Toxostoma  rufum 

Brown  Thrashers  visit  the  Garden  in 
numbers  somewhat  fewer  than  the  Cat- 
birds, but  the  period  of  their  migration,  as 
evidenced  there,  is  more  extended.  It  has 
run  over  three  weeks  in  five  of  the  years, 
and  in  1905  it  covered  thirty- three  days, 
namely,  from  April  25  to  May  27.  The 
Thrasher  appears  earlier  than  the  Catbird, 
often  by  a  week  or  more,  never  having  been 
later  in  arriving  than  May  7.  The  time  of 
its  appearance  is  in  the  first  week  of  May, 
when  not  in  the  last  week  of  April.  Yet 
the  last  birds  are  quite  as  late  in  moving  on 
to  their  breeding-haunts  as  are  the  Cat- 
birds, May  22  to  27  variously  marking  the 


i84    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

day  of  their  disappearance.  Probably  not 
more  than  ten  to  twelve  individuals  in  any 
one  season  visit  the  Garden.  Not  more 
than  six  birds  have  been  noted  on  the  same 
day.  Sometimes  a  Thrasher  has  given  itself 
over  to  song  for  a  time  in  the  early  morn- 
ing, perched  high  up  in  the  top  of  a  tree 
among  the  slender  branches,  where  its  form 
could  be  seen. 

In  1907,  which  was  the  year  of  greatest 
abundance  of  the  species,  a  tailless  bird 
appeared  on  May  15,  when  four  or  five 
other  Thrashers  were  present,  and  was  seen 
for  seven  successive  days.  It  could  take 
short  flights  apparently  as  well  as  the  other 
Thrashers  and  did  not  remain  beyond  their 
departure.  The  Thrashers  conceal  them- 
selves very  successfully  in  the  thicker 
shrubs  or  hawthorns  and  remain  silent 
most  of  the  time,  but  they  take  advantage 
of  quiet  conditions  to  drop  to  the  ground 
to  feed. 


WINTER   WREN  185 

100.  House  Wren 

Troglodytes  aedon 

The  House  Wren  had  not  been  observed 
in  the  Garden  until  1906.  On  May  13  of 
that  year  one  was  seen,  but  it  was  very 
elusive  among  the  planted  beds  and  the 
shrubs.  In  1907  two  House  Wrens  were 
seen,  one  on  May  14  and  another  on 
May  18.  Visitants  in  earlier  years  may 
quite  possibly  have  been  overlooked.  The 
birds  recorded  appeared  in  comprehensive 
migratory  flights,  when  the  number  of  spe- 
cies and  individuals  present  was  large. 

loi.  Winter  Wren 

Nannus  hiemalis 

Mr.  Francis  H.  Allen  furnishes  a  record 
of  a  Winter  Wren  in  such  proximity  to  the 
Common  in  a  recent  year  that  it  seems  not 
inappropriate  to  include  the  species  in  the 
local  list.  He  states  that  the  Wren  was 
within  the  Granary  Burying-Ground  in- 
closure  on  April  25  and  26,  1898. 


i86    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

102.  Brown  Creeper 

Certhia  familiaris  americana 

A  few  Brown  Creepers  in  the  Garden  are 
recorded  each  year,  both  in  the  spring  and 
in  mid-autumn.  The  earhest  appearance 
of  the  species  was  in  1905,  when  on  March 
20  two  birds  came  and  remained  during  four 
days/  In  other  seasons  the  Creeper  has 
first  appeared  in  April :  one  on  April  7,  1904, 
on  the  Common ;  one  on  April  10,  1908 ;  one 
on  April  15,  1905,  on  the  Common;  one  on 
April  22,  1907,  which  remained  six  days, 
presumably  the  same  bird.  These  first- 
comers  have  usually  been  followed  by 
others  a  few  days  later.  In  1905  eight  birds 
were  seen  on  April  26,  and  it  may  be  that 
fifteen  different  individuals  visited  the 
Garden  that  season,  the  period  of  migra- 
tion extending  from  March  20  to  May  3, 
or  forty-five  days.  The  latest  birds  were 
present  in  1907,  three  on  May  13.  In  1900 
two  Creepers  were  present  on  May  9.  This 

1  In  1909  a  Creeper  was  present  on  March  18  for  one 
day  only. 


BROWN   CREEPER  187 

was  the  day  of  my  first  visit  ornithologically 
to  the  Garden,  and  the  first  bird  seen  and 
recorded  on  the  occasion  was  one  of  these 
two  Creepers.  I  quickly  detected  after  my 
first  observation  the  richness  of  the  bird- 
life  present. 

Again  in  October  the  Brown  Creeper 
regularly  appears  in  the  Garden  in  its 
southward  migration,  one  or  more  birds 
successively,  usually  after  the  middle  of  the 
month.  On  October  26,  1906,  six  birds 
were  present.  As  the  visitants  are  quite 
as  likely  to  be  upon  the  large  trees  which 
border  the  Garden  or  which  stand  in  the 
streets  which  bound  it  as  upon  the  trees 
within  the  grounds,  it  is  probable  that 
more  Creepers  have  been  visitants  than 
have  been  seen  and  recorded. 

In  1908  a  Creeper  appeared  on  October 
II;  another  was  present  from  October  14 
to  16;  another  from  October  22  to  28 ;  an- 
other from  November  i  to  8,  being  heard 
in  song  on  the  last  two  days  of  his  stay ; 
and  a  last  one  was  seen  on  November 
19. 


i88    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

A  few  Brown  Creepers  have  been  noted 
on  the  Common. 

Mr.  Maurice  C.  Blake  furnishes  one  early 
autumn  record,  that  of  a  Brown  Creeper 
present  in  the  Garden  on  September  24, 
1904. 

103.  White-breasted  Nuthatch 

Sitta  carolinensis 

On  May  19,  1904,  a  White-breasted  Nut- 
hatch had  come  to  the  Garden  and  was 
heard  singing.  No  other  birds  often  in  com- 
pany with  nuthatches  were  present.  It  was 
a  cool,  clouded  day,  with  a  maximum  tem- 
perature of  52°  following  an  easterly  storm. 

On  April  7  of  the  same  year  a  female  bird 
had  been  seen  on  the  Common  with  a  brown 
creeper  and  a  hairy  woodpecker  as  com- 
panions, working  over  the  trees  on  Monu- 
ment Hill. 

104.  Red-breasted  Nuthatch 

Sitta  canadensis 

No  spring  record  of  the  Red-breasted 
Nuthatch  has  been  obtained. 


RED-BREASTED   NUTHATCH        189 

But  in  October,  1906,  there  was  a  most 
unusual  visitation  of  this  species  to  the 
Garden.  On  October  14  and  the  three  days 
next  following,  the  first  bird  was  seen ;  on 
October  18  three  birds  were  present;  on 
October  21,  five,  all  being  seen  together 
in  one  maple  tree;  on  the  day  follow- 
ing, the  number  was  reduced  to  two,  and 
one  remained  four  days  longer,  to  Octo- 
ber 26.  Thus  for  thirteen  successive  days 
Red-breasted  Nuthatches  were  present.  A 
little  company  of  golden -crowned  kinglets, 
chickadees,  and  brown  creepers,  also  an  un- 
usual occurrence,  was  present  at  the  same 
time.  After  an  interim,  again  on  No- 
vember 3  another  Red-breasted  Nuthatch 
came,  accompanied  by  two  golden-crowned 
kinglets. 

In  1908,  on  October  12,  a  single  bird  was 
present,  but  it  did  not  remain  to  a  second 
day.  On  December  29  of  that  year  Mr. 
E.  E.  Caduc  informs  me  that  a  Red-breasted 
Nuthatch  was  seen  by  his  friend  Mr.  Pot- 
ter, at  the  head  of  Commonwealth  Avenue. 


I90    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 
105.  Chickadee 

Penthestes  atricapillus 

The  Chickadee  is  an  infrequent  visitant 
to  the  Garden  in  the  spring.  One  was  noted 
on  March  28,  1903.  Two,  remaining  over 
from  the  winter,  were  present  in  March, 
1904,  and  also  in  March,  1907,  and  then 
disappeared.  In  1905  two  appeared  on 
March  31,  and  the  song  was  heard.  In  the 
same  year  two  were  noted  on  April  19,  and 
one  came  and  was  in  song  on  May  13.  In 
1907  one  was  present  and  singing  from 
April  25  to  29,  and  in  1908  a  single  bird  was 
seen  on  April  9.  These  are  all  of  the  spring 
records. 

In  the  autumn  Chickadees  are  much 
more  in  evidence,  as  they  quite  regularly 
appear  in  the  Garden  and  continue  their 
stay  into  November;  and,  as  already  inti- 
mated, on  two  occasions  two  birds  remained 
through  the  winter  and  were  seen  at  inter- 
vals up  to  the  end  of  March.  Sometimes 
small  flocks  have  appeared  in  October 
which  numbered  four,  five,  or  six  birds. 


GOLDEN-CROWNED   KINGLET      191 
106.  Golden-crowned  Kinglet 

Regulus  satrapa 

Like  the  chickadee,  the  Golden-crowned 
Kinglet  is  an  infrequent  visitant  to  the 
Garden  in  the  spring.  In  1901  one  was 
noted  on  May  i.  This  bird  was  on  the 
Common.  In  1902  one  was  seen  on  April 
21.  In  1905  one  came  on  March  29,  a  male 
bird  with  a  beautiful  orange-centred  crown, 
and  another  came  on  April  28.  In  1906  one 
was  seen  on  April  20.  In  1907  two  appeared 
on  the  Common  on  April  23,  and  one  was  in 
the  Garden  on  April  27  and  28.  In  1908  a 
female  bird  came  to  the  Garden  on  April 
28  and  was  seen  in  the  elms  of  the  Beacon 
Street  mall  on  that  day  and  the  following 
day.  In  the  last  two  instances  only  has  the 
visitant  remained  more  than  one  day. 

In  October  more  Golden-crests  have  been 
noted  than  in  the  spring,  and  no  autumn 
has  lacked  one  or  more  records.  In  most 
instances  the  visitants  have  remained  sev- 
eral days,  as  in  1905  one  was  present  from 
October  18  to  20;  in  1906  there  were  three 


192    BIRDS   OF  THE  PUBLIC  GARDEN 

from  October  i6  to  19 ;  in  1907  one  from  Oc- 
tober 15  to  22,  and  two  from  October  27 
to  30 ;  in  1908  three  from  October  20  to  23. 
November  4  is  the  latest  date  on  which  a 
Golden-crowned  Kinglet  has  been  seen. 

107.  Ruby-crowned  Kinglet 

Regulus  calendula 

The  Ruby-crowned  Kinglet  has  not 
failed  to  appear  in  the  Garden  each  spring, 
usually  two  birds  singly  in  succession.  But 
in  1901  three  birds  came  on  May  7,  follow- 
ing one  on  April  30 ;  and  in  1907  four  birds 
were  present  on  May  7.  The  earliest  dates 
of  arrival  have  been  April  23  in  1903  and 
1908,  a  single  bird  in  each  instance.  The 
last  migrants  have  usually  passed  by  the 
end  of  the  first  week  of  May,  but  in  1904 
and  1907  one  was  present  on  May  17  and 
18  respectively.  A  Ruby-crown  has  in  no 
instance  remained  longer  than  to  a  second 
day  and  usually  has  stayed  but  one  day. 
The  migration  has  covered  variously  from 
seven  to  thirteen  days.  This  very  sweet 
little  songster  has  often  been  heard  singing 


BLUE-GRAY  GNATCATCHER        193 

his  exquisite  song,  both  in  the  spring  and  in 
the  autumn. 

On  several  occasions  in  the  autumn 
Ruby-crowned  Kinglets  have  come  to  the 
Garden.  One  visitant  in  song  was  present 
on  October  16,  1902;  one  in  song  on  Octo- 
ber 20,  1903;  one  also  in  song  on  October 
22  and  23,  1906;  and  in  1908  one  on  Octo- 
ber 14,  followed  by  two  on  October  20,  one 
on  October  22  and  23,  and  finally  one  on 
November  5. 

108.  Blue-gray  Gnatcatcher 

Polioptila  ccerulea 

In  the  early  morning  of  October  22,  1904, 
upon  entering  the  Garden  on  the  northerly 
side  the  frequently  repeated  calls  of  a  small 
bird  not  familiar  to  the  ear  attracted  in- 
stant notice  and  led  me  to  a  beech  tree  from 
which  they  proceeded.  Here  a  little  bird 
as  active  as  a  kinglet,  or  even  more  active, 
was  flitting  among  the  boughs  and  proved 
upon  examination  to  be  a  Blue-gray  Gnat- 
catcher,  a  bird  very  rare  within  the  bounds 
of  Massachusetts.    It  had  as  companions 


194    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

black-poll  warblers  which  were  searching 
through  the  leafage  for  their  food.  The 
Gnatcatcher  repeatedly  made  sallies  forth 
for  insects  somewhat  after  the  manner  of 
the  flycatchers.  It  at  length  flew  from  the 
beech  to  a  sycamore  maple,  alighting  near 
the  top  and  gradually  working  down  by 
successive  flittings  to  the  lower  branches 
and  even  to  the  ground.  It  made  noticeable 
displays  of  the  white  outer  tail-feathers  by 
spreading  the  tail  as  it  flitted.  The  bluish 
gray  color  of  the  upper  parts  was  clear  and 
distinct  in  hue.  It  ceased  not  to  give  its 
call-note,  by  which  as  it  moved  from  tree 
to  tree  it  could  be  located.  A  southeast 
rainstorm  with  warm  winds  of  almost  gale 
force  had  raged  the  day  previous,  and 
doubtless  had  brought  this  rare  visitant 
along  from  its  more  southern  range.  It  was 
not  seen  or  heard  the  following  day. 

109.  Wood  Thrush 

Hylocichla  mustelina 

The  Wood  Thrush  was  first  seen  in  the 
Garden  in   1906.    Brief  visits  were  then 


WILSON'S   THRUSH  195 

made  by  two  birds  successively.  The  first 
came  on  May  7,  and  the  second  on  May  13 ; 
each  bird  remained  but  one  day.  The  fol- 
lowing year,  1907,  two  birds  were  present 
on  May  10  and  were  seen  in  the  morn- 
ing in  company  with  hermit  and  Wilson's 
thrushes.  In  the  late  afternoon  my  sister, 
Miss  Mary  A.  Wright,  and  Miss  Isabel  P. 
George  heard  one  of  these  Wood  Thrushes 
sing  beautifully  its  evening  song.  Another 
bird  appeared  on  May  13  and  remained 
during  four  days. 

These  Wood  Thrushes  have  kept  rather 
more  in  the  seclusion  of  the  shrubs  than 
the  other  thrushes  which  visit  the  Gar- 
den have  done,  and  they  have  shown  them- 
selves less  on  the  ground  than  they.  No 
individuals  were  seen  in  the  season  of  1908. 

no.  Wilson's  Thrush 

Hylocichla  juscescens 

The  Veery,  or  Wilson's  Thrush,  is  a  reg- 
ular visitant  to  the  Garden.  In  1906  only 
one  bird  was  noted,  which  appeared  as  late 
as  May  23.  But  usually  several  birds  come 


196    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

in  succession.  In  1904  a  Veery  came  on 
May  5,  and  the  migration  continued  to 
May  20,  the  succession  probably  number- 
ing six  different  birds.  In  1905  the  first 
Veery  came  on  May  3,  and  the  migration 
continued  to  May  22,  an  equal  number  of 
birds  coming  in  succession.  In  1907  the 
same  number  came  between  May  10  and 
20.  In  1908,  strange  to  say,  the  same  num- 
ber again  appeared,  arriving  between  May 
12  and  24.  In  1903  four  Veeries  came  on 
May  22  and  passed  on  that  night,  the  only 
birds  of  that  season. 

The  song  has  been  heard,  especially  upon 
a  damp  day,  audible  above  the  din  of  the 
city.  Usually  the  species  is  silent.  The 
Wilson's  Thrush  is  very  likely  to  be  under 
the  shadow  of  the  beeches,  which  offer 
protection  by  their  low,  spreading  boughs, 
and  whose  expanding  leafage  very  closely 
matches  the  tawny  backs  of  these  thrushes. 

One  Veery  was  seen  on  the  Common  on 
May  10,  1907,  and  one  on  May  12,  1908; 
each  occasion  marked  the  first  arrival  of 
the  species  to  both  the  Common  and  the 
Garden. 


GRAY-CHEEKED   THRUSH  197 

III.  Gray-cheeked  Thrush 

Hylocichla  alicicB 

Several  records  of  Gray-cheeked  Thrushes, 
or  AHce's  Thrushes,  which  have  been  well 
seen,  have  been  obtained,  beginning  in 
1900,  when  one  was  present  on  May  15  and 
two  others  came  on  May  18  and  continued 
their  stay  during  seven  days  through  an 
easterly  storm.  In  1901  one  bird  was  pre- 
sent on  May  22 ;  in  1903  one  was  seen  on 
May  20 ;  in  1904  the  visitant  came  on  May 
23 ;  and  in  1905  one  on  May  22,  followed 
by  another  on  May  25  which  remained  to 
the  second  day.  In  1908  a  Gray-cheeked 
Thrush  arrived  in  the  Garden  on  May  17; 
two  others  came  on  May  24 ;  and  these  were 
followed  by  one  other  on  May  27  which 
remained  over  another  day. 

These  records  show  that  the  Gray- 
cheeked  Thrush  arrives  later  than  the  other 
thrushes  except  Bicknell's,  and  has  usually 
made  but  one  day's  stay. 


198    BIRDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 
112.  Bicknell's  Thrush 

Hylocichla  alicicB  bicknelli 

On  three  occasions  a  Bicknell's  Thrush 
has  been  well  seen  in  the  Garden.  In  1904 
one  appeared  on  May  28  and  was  seen  both 
on  the  ground  and  on  boughs  of  the  trees. 
The  olive-backed  thrushes  had  already- 
passed  on.  In  1905  one  came  on  May  21, 
when  two  olive-backed  thrushes  were  also 
present.  The  smaller  size,  entire  absence 
of  buff  tint  and  rather  browner  tinge  of  the 
back  distinguished  it  from  its  near  rela- 
tives. In  1908  one  came  on  May  2y. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend  furnishes  an 
interesting  fourth  record.  He  writes:  '*  On 
June  II,  1906,  I  noticed  a  male  bronzed 
grackle  picking  at  a  dead  bird  in  the  Gar- 
den near  the  Ether  Monument  and  when 
disturbed  walking  off,  holding  the  dead 
bird  by  the  neck.  The  bird  proved  to  be  a 
female  Bicknell's  Thrush  and  is  now  in  my 
collection  (cat.  no.  1257).  It  was  perfectly 
fresh  and  apparently  recently  killed." 

Mr.    Maurice   C.    Blake    furnishes   one 


OLIVE-BACKED  THRUSH         199 

autumn  record  of  a  migrant  southward, 
namely,  a  bird  well  seen  by  him  in  the 
Garden  on  September  24,  1904,  giving  calls 
and  snatches  of  song. 

113.  Olive-backed  Thrush 

Hylocichla  ustulata  swainsoni 

Swainson's,  or  the  Olive-backed,  Thrush 
visits  the  Garden  regularly,  from  six  to  a 
dozen  birds  appearing  each  year.  In  1905 
the  first  bird  came  on  May  7.  The  usual 
time  of  arrival  is  May  13  or  14.  In  1907 
the  earliest  comers  were  seen  on  May  18, 
four  birds.  Six  birds  present  upon  the  same 
day  have  been  twice  recorded,  namely,  May 
20,  1902,  and  May  15,  1905.  On  the  former 
occasion  one  bird  sang  the  full  song  many 
times.  On  the  latter  occasion  the  number 
was  not  diminished  for  three  days,  and  two 
birds  recorded  daily  up  to  May  21  may 
have  been  two  of  the  little  flock  of  six  re- 
maining seven  days.  The  last  birds  linger 
variously  to  May  22  to  25.  One  was  pre- 
sent, however,  on  May  30,  in  1907,  and  one 
on  May  28,  in  1908.  The  strongly  buff  col- 


200    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

oring  on  the  head  and  throat  of  these  birds 
estabHshed  them  surely  as  Olive-backs. 

The  song  is  rarely  heard,  and  the  call- 
notes  are  given  infrequently.  But  on  May 
1 8,  1908,  an  Olive-backed  Thrush  in  a 
beech  which  stands  near  the  Everett  statue 
sang  without  ceasing  for  a  half-hour  or 
more,  quite  as  he  would  have  sung  in  a 
White  Mountain  forest  such  as  he  loves 
so  well.  When  I  had  passed  through  the 
grounds  and  returned  again  to  the  vicinity 
of  this  beech  tree,  the  bird  was  still  singing. 

114.  Hermit  Thrush 

Hylocichla  guttata  pallasii 

Of  all  the  thrushes  the  Hermit  Thrush 
is  by  far  the  most  abundant  visitant  to  the 
Garden.  It  comes  the  earliest  and  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  and  the  migration  in 
some  seasons  has  extended  over  a  long 
period.  For  instance,  in  1902  a  bird  ap- 
peared on  March  13  and  remained  two 
days.  Another  came  on  March  24  and  also 
remained  two  days.  The  last  bird  of  that 
season  passed  on  May  11.    The  period  of 


HERMIT   THRUSH  201 

migration,  therefore,  was  sixty  days.  In 
1905  the  first  bird  appeared  on  March  29. 
This  bird  was  reported  by  Dr.  C.  W.  Town- 
send,  and  the  last  bird  of  the  season  passed 
on  May  8.  The  period  covered  was  forty- 
one  days.  In  1907  the  first  bird  was  seen 
on  April  2,  there  being  two  others  on  the 
Common,  and  the  last  bird  passed  on 
May  14.  The  period  covered  was  forty- 
three  days.  In  1908  the  first  bird  appeared 
on  April  7,  and  the  last  bird  passed  on 
May  14.  The  period  covered  was  thirty- 
eight  days. 

In  1905,  and  again  in  1907,  the  re- 
cords indicate  that  probably  forty  Hermit 
Thrushes  passed  through  the  Garden. 
Fourteen  birds  were  present  together  on 
April  20,  1905 ;  twelve  were  seen  on  April  26 
after  the  former  flock  had  gone;  and  ten 
were  counted  on  May  3  after  another  in- 
terval of  absence.  In  1907  twelve  were  re- 
corded on  April  23,  and  twelve  again  on 
April  26,  one  only  having  been  seen  in  the 
intervening  days.  In  1908  probably  more 
than  sixty  Hermit  Thrushes  came  to  the 


2Q2    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

Garden  and  the  Common.  On  April  15 
thirty  were  counted  in  the  Garden,  and  one 
was  seen  on  the  Common.  On  April  23 
twelve  were  in  the  Garden,  and  six  were  on 
the  Common. 

On  May  6,  1908,  a  Hermit  came  to  the 
Garden  which  was  very  dull  in  color.  This 
bird  was  seen  each  day  up  to  May  14.  It 
occupied  the  same  small  section  of  the 
grounds,  the  corner  formed  by  Beacon  and 
Arlington  streets.  Here  it  was  seen  every 
morning  for  nine  days.  On  the  12th  day 
four  others  were  present  for  that  day  only, 
but  the  long-lingering  bird,  recognizable  by 
its  coloration,  was  seen  by  itself  on  that  day 
and  continued  its  stay  two  days  beyond 
their  departure. 

A  small  flock  of  Hermits  which  came  to 
the  Common  on  April  16,  1908,  remained 
about  the  band-stand  for  nine  days;  they 
were  often  seen  close  about  its  base  as  well 
as  on  the  lawn  around  it. 

Hermit  Thrushes  are  also  present  in  the 
Garden  every  year  during  the  autumn 
migration.    In  1900  one  remained  from  Oc- 


HERMIT   THRUSH  203 

tober  25  to  28.  In  190 1  five  were  present 
on  October  27  ;  two  remained  another  day. 
In  1903  five  were  noted  on  October  21,  and 
one  was  seen  on  November  8.  In  1904 
twelve  passed  in  succession  between  Oc- 
tober 16  and  November  6.  In  1907  five 
were  seen  on  October  24,  and  the  migration 
extended  to  November  8.  In  1908  the  first 
autumn  migrant  appeared  on  October  13, 
and  the  migration  continued  to  Novem- 
ber 19;  nearly  thirty  individuals  passed 
through  in  succession. 

The  November  Hermits  of  that  season 
clung  very  tenaciously  to  a  group  of  trees 
and  shrubs  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
pond.  Three  were  here  seen  on  the  first  day 
of  the  month,  and  three  on  the  nineteenth 
day,  after  which  no  Hermit  was  seen  within 
the  Garden.  Accretions  to  the  number  upon 
some  days  of  this  period  indicated  succes- 
sive flights  of  the  species  southward  even 
up  to  November  18,  for  five  birds  were 
present  on  that  day.  On  November  7  one 
of  the  birds  sang  sweetly,  but  in  suppressed 
tones.     These    Hermits    were    singularly 


204    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

tame,  allowing  one  to  approach  as  near  as 
ten  feet  or  to  pass  under  them  when  perch- 
ing, and  they  showed  none  of  that  shyness 
which  belongs  to  the  species  in  its  nesting- 
haunts. 

Once  only  in  the  spring  has  the  song  been 
heard,  and  then  it  was  repeated  several 
times  clearly  and  came  as  distinctly  to  the 
ear  as  it  is  heard  on  the  bird's  breeding- 
ground  in  the  White  Mountains.  This 
occurred  in  the  early  morning  of  April  21, 
1902.  Upon  the  same  morning,  it  may  be 
worth  while  to  mention,  a  Hermit  Thrush 
had  been  seen  at  the  break  of  day  in  the 
back-yard  of  a  house  on  Pinckney  Street, 
and  viewed  with  wonder  at  its  choice  of 
so  confined  and  unnatural  a  resting-place. 
One  of  the  several  call-notes  of  the  species 
is  occasionally  given,  but  rarely. 

The  Hermit  Thrushes  which  visit  the 
Garden  are  usually  in  plain  evidence,  often 
showing  little  timidity  as  they  run  upon 
the  ground,  pick  their  food,  and  take  short 
flights.  When  startled  from  the  ground  the 
flight  often  is  merely  up  into  the  branches 


AMERICAN   ROBIN  205 

of  the  tree  above  them  or  across  an  open 
space  to  some  neighboring  tree.  As  they 
are  in  the  Garden  before  the  leafage  has 
appeared,  it  is  easy  to  find  them  if  rest- 
ing upon  a  bough,  as  they  at  intervals 
quietly  lift  the  tail.  But  commonly  they 
are  upon  the  ground. 

115.  American  Robin 

Planesticus  migratorius 

The  Robin  is  one  of  the  three  established 
summer  residents  in  the  Garden,  the  others 
being  the  bronzed  grackle  and  the  Balti- 
more oriole.  Like  the  grackle,  the  Robin 
has  become  an  abundant  resident.  The 
records  of  1900  show  that  only  three  or 
four  pairs  of  Robins  were  then  nesting 
within  the  grounds.  The  number  did  not 
increase  in  the  two  years  next  following. 
But  in  1903  ten  pairs  were  nesting;  in  1904, 
eighteen  pairs;  in  1905,  twenty  pairs;  and 
in  1906,  twenty-eight  pairs.  As  in  the  case 
of  the  grackles  in  1907,  so  also  the  Robins 
were  fewer  in  number  in  that  year ;  twenty 
pairs,  so  far  as  could  be  ascertained,  nested. 


2o6    BIRDS   OF   THE  PUBLIC   GARDEN 

In   1908  the  number  of  nests  located  in 
May  was  twenty-five. 

The  Robin  is  one  of  the  earliest  birds  to 
appear  in  the  spring.  A  single  male  bird 
commonly  arrives  first,  and  the  same  morn- 
ing it  is  usual  to  see  several  song  and  fox 
sparrows  and  a  grackle  or  two.  The  earli- 
est date  of  arrival  of  the  Robin  was  in  1908, 
in  which  year  one  came  to  the  Common  on 
March  12.  In  1902  and  1903  the  arrival 
was  on  March  13,  on  which  day  in  each 
of  those  years  two  male  birds  came  to  the 
Garden.^  In  1901  and  in  1904  the  arrival 
was  on  March  24 ;  in  1905,  on  March  18 ;  in 
1906,  on  March  28 ;  in  1907,  on  March  21 ; 
a  single  bird  came  in  every  instance.  If  the 
arrival  of  the  first  bird  be  unusually  early, 
commonly  it  is  a  week  or  ten  days  before 
it  is  joined  by  a  few  companions.  Then 
successive  additions  are  made  to  the  flock 
of  nesting  birds  even  up  to  the  early  days 
of  May. 

1  In  1909  two  robins  arrived  on  March  15.  A  song 
sparrow  preceded  them  by  one  day.  They  were  joined 
by  a  third  robin  on  March  21,  and  by  four  others  two 
days  later. 


AMERICAN  ROBIN  207 

Occasionally  a  migrating  flock  flies  in 
and  alights,  it  may  be  perching  and  cackling 
noisily  in  the  larger  trees,  or  spreading  out 
upon  the  ground  and  running  and  chasing 
actively.  One  such  flock  in  the  Garden,  it 
was  estimated,  numbered  two  hundred  and 
fifty  birds.  It  came  on  April  10,  1907.  One 
of  about  twenty  birds  appeared  on  one 
piece  of  lawn  on  April  8,  1905.  And  another 
flock  of  similar  size  passed  over  in  flight  on 
April  7,  1908.  Other  flocks  at  other  times 
have  been  seen.  These  appearances  have 
been  an  hour  or  two  after  sunrise,  and,  as 
such  flocks  do  not  remain  but  rise  again  on 
wing  and  depart,  the  occurrences  are  con- 
firmative of  the  idea  that  the  Robin  is  a 
day-migrating  bird. 

Toward  the  end  of  March  or  in  early 
April  some  female  birds  arrive,  but  it  is  well 
on  in  the  month  of  April  before  many  fe- 
males have  joined  the  males  and  nest-build- 
ing begins.  Many  nests  have  been  built  or 
are  building  when  May  opens,  but  some 
pairs  prove  to  be  even  later  in  their  home- 
making. 


2o8    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC  GARDEN 

The  males  which  come  first  seem  not  to 
give  themselves  over  to  song,  but  they  are 
heard  occasionally  singing.  Bleak  winds 
continue  for  many  days  after  the  first  mild 
spell  of  weather  which  inspired  the  early 
comers,  and  the  temperature  falls  on  many 
mornings  considerably  below  the  freezing 
point.  So  these  earlier  birds  much  of  the 
time  lack  incentive  to  sing  until  the  warmer 
mornings  come.  Then  they  will  be  heard 
in  chorus  in  response  to  higher  ranges  of 
temperature  and  the  arrival  and  presence 
of  the  females.  This  chorus  singing  in  all 
its  combined  power,  however,  occurs  in  the 
very  early  morning,  indeed  before  sunrise. 
So,  should  you  remark  in  early  May  to  a 
patrolman  whose  beat  is  through  the  Gar- 
den, **  I  do  not  hear  the  Robins  sing 
much,"  he  will  reply,  "  You  should  have 
been  here  about  3.30  o'clock  this  morning; 
that  is  the  time  they  sing."  Some  birds  are 
inspired  in  the  later  hours  of  the  morning, 
but  the  universal  song  is  given  only  at  the 
early  hour. 

In  October  a  few  lingering  Robins  are 


BLUEBIRD  209 

found  in  the  Garden,  and  some  small  flocks 
call  there  on  their  southward  flight.  One 
or  two  birds  have  remained  in  several  of  the 
seasons  until  the  middle  of  November.  In 
1903  and  1904  the  last  one  was  seen  on 
November  15.  In  1905  the  last  bird  stayed 
one  day  later.  In  1908  two  were  present  on 
November  18.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend 
furnishes  a  record  of  two  Robins  in  the 
Garden  in  the  first  week  of  December  in 
1904.  For  eight  months  of  the  year,  there- 
fore, this  **  friend  of  man  *'  and  cheery,  use- 
ful companion  is  present  with  us. 

116.  Bluebird 

Sialia  sialis 

Bluebirds  make  very  short  visits  within 
the  Garden.  One  or  two  may  be  seen  and 
heard  for  a  brief  time  occasionally,  as  they 
perch  on  one  of  the  trees,  having  alighted 
on  their  way  further.  On  one  occasion, 
March  26,  1905,  a  flock  of  eleven  birds 
made  a  short  stay,  and  on  March  28  a 
flock  of  eight  birds  lit,  while  on  the  same 
morning  twelve  others  were  noted  as  they 


2IO    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

flew  over.  The  only  instance  of  a  pair  tarry- 
ing, as  if  it  might  have  intended  to  nest, 
was  in  1902,  when  a  pair  remained  in  one 
section  of  the  Common,  that  which  lies 
nearest  to  Park  Square,  from  April  i  to  14, 
and  then  disappeared.  They  were  seen 
daily  during  those  fourteen  days.  The 
earliest  date  of  the  Bluebird's  arrival  has 
been  March  14,  in  1902.^  Other  dates  of 
arrival  have  been  March  15,  16,  19,  21, 
and  April  4  and  5.  Some  visitants  have  ap- 
peared in  May,  apparently  drawn  along  in 
the  larger  migratory  movements.  Thus  in 
1902  one  was  present  and  in  song  on  May  9, 
and  another  on  May  11.  In  1903  one  came 
on  May  19.  In  1904  two  male  birds  were 
seen  on  May  5.  In  1905  a  female  bird  ap- 
peared on  May  16,  and  another  came  on 
May  20.  In  1906  a  male  bird  was  present 
and  singing  on  May  20.  In  1908  a  male 
bird  was  on  the  Common  on  May  10. 
There  are  four  late  October  records  of 

^  In  1909  Mr.  E.  E.  Caduc  informs  me  that  he  saw  a 
male  bluebird  on  the  Common,  on  Monument  Hill,  on 
March  14.  A  blue  jay  was  also  present. 


BLUEBIRD  211 

the  Bluebird.  A  single  bird  was  recorded 
on  October  20,  1901 ;  one  on  October  26, 
1904;  one  on  October  26,  1907;  and  on 
October  24,  1907,  a  flock  of  fourteen  birds 
was  seen  flying  over  westward.  In  1908 
the  autumn  visitants  were  all  November 
birds;  eight  passed  over  on  November  i, 
and  three  were  seen  perching  on  the  Com- 
mon on  November  12. 

The  Garden,  therefore,  scarcely  consti- 
tutes a  way-station  for  this  species,  as  no 
Bluebird  has  been  known  to  spend  the 
night  therein,  or  indeed  pass  an  hour  within 
the  grounds.  They  make  only  fleeting  calls 
and  continue  on  their  way ;  or  in  many  in- 
stances alight  not  at  all,  but  pass  over  in 
their  migratory  passage ;  for  the  Bluebird  is 
one  of  the  few  species  of  small  birds  which 
migrate  by  day. 


INTRODUCED  SPECIES 
I.  House  Si^arrow 

Passer  domesticus 

The  House,  or  English,  Sparrow  was  suc- 
cessfully introduced  into  Boston  by  pro- 
vision of  the  city  government  in  the  year 
1869  after  an  unsuccessful  effort  made  in 
the  preceding  year.  From  that  time  dates 
its  occupancy  of  the  Common  and  the  Pub- 
lic Garden  and  its  spread  throughout  the 
city  and  thence  to  suburban  cities  and 
towns  and  thus  more  and  more  widely. 
Mr.  William  Brewster  in  his  **  Birds  of  the 
Cambridge  Region,"  p.  65,  says  of  his  first 
observation  of  these  sparrows :  "  I  remem- 
ber spending  the  greater  part  of  a  cold 
morning  in  December,  1869,  looking  for  the 
alien  birds  in  Boston.  On  this  occasion  I 
failed  to  find  any  of  them  on  the  Common, 
but  near  the  pond  in  the  Public  Garden  I 
finally  came  upon  six  or  eight  huddled  to- 
gether in  the  top  of  a  leafless  bush.  During 


HOUSE   SPARROW  213 

the  next  three  years  they  became  numer- 
ous in  Boston,  and  in  1873  they  began  to 
invade  Cambridge,  appearing  first  at  Har- 
vard Square  and  in  Cambridgeport.  A  few 
were  seen  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  our  own  place  the  following  year,  and  in 
1875  a  pair  nested,  for  the  first  time,  in  our 
garden." 

So  now  the  House  Sparrow  we  always 
have  with  us.  It  abides  in  abundance.  But 
it  seems  as  if  the  species  locally  had  been 
somewhat  on  the  decrease  in  the  last  few 
years.  It  is  known  that  the  parent  grackles 
destroy  some  of  the  young  sparrows,  be- 
cause this  has  been  witnessed  by  a  number 
of  observers  in  June  at  the  time  when  the 
grackles'  young  are  first  out  of  the  nest 
and  seeking  food,  and  when  also  the  young 
House  Sparrows  are  clumsy  of  movement 
and  fall  easily  a  prey.  I  suspect  the  provo- 
cation proceeds  from  the  parent  sparrows 
who  may  in  their  rude  way  steal  the  young 
grackles'  food  for  themselves  or  their  young, 
and  that  the  killing  is  done  in  retaliation 
and  in  the  interest  of  the  young  grackles, 


214    BIRDS   OF  THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

for  I  do  not  learn  that  it  is  witnessed  at 
other  times.  There  is  some  decimation  of 
the  House  Sparrows  in  the  Garden  in  this 
way. 

Noisy  and  pugnacious  as  they  crowd  to- 
gether, yet  these  sparrows  have  appeared 
usually  to  give  the  small  migrant  birds 
little  annoyance.  Occasionally  I  have  noted 
a  marked  exception  to  this  statement,  when, 
it  may  be,  a  warbler,  provoking  animosity 
by  the  challenge  of  its  song,  has  been 
fiercely  chased  about  for  a  time  by  an  angry 
sparrow  and  sometimes  has  flown  out  of 
the  Garden.  Such  a  pursuit  is  more  likely  to 
happen  upon  a  day  when  there  are  but  few 
migrants  present,  or  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  season,  and  it  seldom  occurs.  Later  in 
the  season  the  House  Sparrows  seem  to  be- 
come wonted  to  the  presence  of  the  migrant 
birds  and  more  willing  to  share  the  grounds 
with  them. 

In  the  early  morning  hours  I  have  found 
them  less  noisy  and  less  in  evidence  to  sight 
than  in  the  forenoon,  when  they  are  gath- 
ered in  larger   numbers  from  the  neigh- 


HOUSE   SPARROW  215 

boring  streets  to  bathe  at  the  edge  of  the 
pond  or  the  fountains  and  sun  themselves 
on  the  grass-plots.  It  has  proved  after  some 
experience  that  they  afford  little  embar- 
rassment to  the  observer,  since  a  power  to 
overlook  them  and  eliminate  their  voices 
from  the  notes  of  the  visitant  birds  can  be 
readily  acquired. 

White- throated,  white-crowned,  and  fox 
sparrows  treat  the  House  Sparrows  as  in- 
feriors and  drive  them  at  will,  for  they  are 
at  once  recognized  by  them  as  masterful 
and  superior. 

A  House  Sparrow  of  albino  type  has 
sometimes  been  seen.  One  such  of  almost 
complete  whiteness  of  plumage  used  to 
be  seen  within  the  Garden  near  the  head  of 
Newbury  Street.  And  others  in  less  degrees 
of  albinism  have  been  seen  from  time  to 
time  and  have  also  been  observed  upon  the 
Common.  Such  plumages  are  generally 
regarded  as  the  result  of  degeneracy. 


2i6    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

II.  European  Goldfinch 

Carduelis  carduelis 

On  the  morning  of  May  27,  1908,  a  bird 
was  perceived  feeding  on  the  grass  near  the 
edge  of  the  pond,  which  by  its  coloration 
caused  a  moment  of  wondering  surprise, 
for  it  was  none  other  bird  than  a  full-plum- 
aged  European  Goldfinch.  It  permitted  a 
somewhat  near  approach  and  was  viewed 
by  myself  and  my  companions  with  the 
interest  which  attaches  to  a  rare  bird.  It 
might  have  continued  longer  in  view,  had 
not  a  swan  approached  so  near  upon  the 
waters  that  the  little  finch  was  frightened 
apparently  at  its  immensity  and  whiteness, 
and,  flying  across  to  the  trees  of  the  island, 
was  lost  to  view.  The  expectation  was  that 
it  would  be  likely  to  be  seen  the  next  day 
and  perhaps  for  several  days,  but  it  was 
not  looked  upon  again  and  must  have  gone 
out  of  the  Garden. 

A  natural  presumption  would  be  that 
this  was  an  escaped  cage-bird.  Yet  as  Eu- 
ropean Goldfinches  have  occasionally  been 


EUROPEAN   GOLDFINCH  217 

seen  in  the  suburbs  of  Boston  in  recent 
years,  some  birds  having  been  designedly 
liberated  some  years  ago,  it  is  quite  possi- 
ble that  this  bird  was  acquainted  with  life 
in  nature  rather  than  with  life  within  a  cage, 
and  it  is  thus  classified  as  a  bird  of  the  wild 
descended  from  parents  which  were  once 
introduced  and  set  free. 


FOREIGN  SPECIES 
III.  Java  Sparrow 

Munia  oryzivora 

On  October  19,  1904,  a  bird  of  unusual 
coloration  was  seen  picking  on  the  ground  of 
the  Common  among  a  large  flock  of  house 
sparrows,  which  proved  upon  investigation 
to  be  a  Java  Sparrow,  or  Java  Finch.  It  was 
again  seen  with  the  flock  on  the  following 
day  and  also  on  the  next  day.  Wherever 
the  English  sparrows  moved  this  bird  went 
with  them.  It  was  viewed  upon  these  three 
days  of  its  presence  on  the  slope  of  Monu- 
ment Hill,  on  the  level  of  the  parade-ground, 
and  on  the  lawn  around  the  band-stand. 
It  showed  as  little  fear  as  the  house  spar- 
rows, like  them  simply  flying  to  a  near  tree 
when  a  too  close  approach  was  made  by 
passers-by.  Its  call,  given  when  taking 
short  flights,  bore  a  resemblance  to  the 
call  of  the  purple  finch.  Otherwise  it  was 
silent.   The  strongly  contrasting  colors  of 


EUROPEAN   BLACKBIRD  219 

its  plumage  — black,  white,  and  slaty  gray 
—  and  its  stout  bright- red  bill  made  it  con- 
spicuous among  its  companions,  and  yet 
apparently  they  who  passed  to  and  fro  saw 
it  not.  After  the  third  day  it  disappeared. 
There  is  no  other  explanation  of  the  pre- 
sence of  this  bird  than  that  it  had  escaped 
from  a  cage  and  found  its  way  to  the  Com- 
mon. 

IV.  European  Blackbird 

Planesticus  merula 

In  the  autumn  of  1908  a  foreign  bird 
was  discovered  in  the  Garden  when  I  made 
my  usual  round  on  the  morning  of  Oc- 
tober 9,  a  bird  appearing  essentially  like 
our  American  robin  in  size  and  form,  but 
glossy  black  in  coloration  throughout,  with 
a  bright  yellow  bill.  The  bird  was  none 
other  than  a  European  Blackbird,  a  male 
bird,  doubtless  escaped  from  captivity.  It 
was  first  seen  in  a  Norway  maple  by  the 
pond,  sitting  quietly  upon  a  bough,  and  it 
permitted  a  careful  inspection  of  itself  to 
be  made  from  a  position  perhaps  fifteen 


220    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

feet  distant.  One  very  apparent  charac- 
teristic was  its  lifting  the  tail  and  then 
slowly  lowering  it  after  the  manner  of  the 
hermit  thrush.  This,  it  was  found,  it  con- 
stantly did,  as  it  was  viewed  day  after  day 
thereafter.  Whether  the  bird  ran  upon  the 
ground,  which  it  proved  it  much  frequented, 
or  sat  upon  a  bough,  at  brief  intervals  this 
tail-action  was  manifested.  And  the  tail 
was  usually  spread  somewhat  wider  at  the 
tip  than-  at  the  base,  thus  presenting  to 
some  extent  a  fan-like  form. 

When  on  the  ground  it  was  seen  to  cast 
aside  the  fallen  leaves  with  its  bill  in  the 
search  for  food  as  a  brown  thrasher  is 
wont  to  do,  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the 
other.  And  on  a  few  occasions  there  was  a 
momentary  scratching  action  of  both  feet 
together  after  the  manner  of  a  fox  spar- 
row. When  a  flight  was  taken,  it  was  at 
rather  low  range,  and  all  perches  were  upon 
the  lower  boughs  of  trees;  no  disposition 
was  shown  to  climb  higher  than  perhaps 
ten  feet. 

On   the   second   morning   it   was   seen. 


EUROPEAN   BLACKBIRD  221 

namely,  October  10,  it  was  in  the  same  tree 
in  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  grounds; 
for  a  time  at  first  this  was  its  chosen 
section,  and  occasionally  afterwards  it  re- 
turned to  it  But  later  it  was  seen  in  all 
quarters  of  the  Garden,  most  often,  how- 
ever, on  the  Beacon  Street  side,  and  after 
a  time  almost  exclusively  there  and  in  that 
part  of  it  which  reaches  up  to  Arlington 
Street.  It  sometimes  had  as  a  companion 
a  robin  or  a  hermit  thrush,  according  as 
migrants  of  these  species  occasionally  came 
to  the  Garden  on  their  way  southward.  I 
recall  that  on  one  morning,  when  an  early 
snow  was  fast  falling,  the  Blackbird  was 
moving  about  the  rocks  which  surround  the 
base  of  the  large  Japanese  lantern  near  the 
curbing  of  the  pond  and  with  it  were  both 
a  robin  and  a  hermit  thrush. 

As  the  leaves  continued  to  drop  from  the 
trees,  leaving  them  more  and  more  bare, 
the  Blackbird  was  often  seen  in  the  Eng- 
lish hawthorns,  which  still  held  their  foliage 
and  afforded  it  seclusion  and  protection; 
and  it  showed  a  fondness  for  a  bed  of  salvia 


222    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

close  beside  the  pond  until  in  the  progress 
of  clearing  up  the  Garden  these  plants  were 
removed.  In  the  early  morning  of  Novem- 
ber 6,  which  was  clouded  and  frosty,  our 
foreign  visitor  made  use  of  a  small  pool  of 
water  upon  the  turf,  where  a  hose-attach- 
ment allowed  a  little  to  flow,  and  refreshed 
himself  with  a  bath. 

Ten  days  later,  in  the  early  morning  of 
November  17,  the  bird  was  found  sitting 
on  a  bough  of  an  English  hawthorn  which 
stands  north  of  the  Ether  Monument,  and 
singing  sweetly  in  very  soft  tones,  so  soft 
that  had  I  not  been  as  near  as  only  twenty 
feet  away  I  could  not  have  heard  him.  He 
had  fully  settled  into  the  mood  of  singing, 
for  he  moved  not  upon  the  bough  and 
paused  not  in  his  utterance  of  the  sweet 
notes  so  long  as  I  remained,  which  was  at 
least  ten  minutes.  Passers-by  moved  on 
the  plank  walk  near  the  tree,  but  these  dis- 
turbed not  the  bird,  as  he  sat  in  the  seclu- 
sion of  the  boughs.  The  song  was  so  nearly 
formless  that  it  lacked  definiteness,  but 
occasionally  phrases  were  heard  which  re- 


EUROPEAN   BLACKBIRD  223 

sembled  those  of  a  wood  thrush.  I  could 
not  see  that  the  bird  opened  its  bill  at  all 
to  produce  its  song,  and  I  suppose  it  was 
meant  for  no  ears  to  hear,  either  bird's  or 
man's.  This  was  the  only  occasion  on  which 
sounds  were  heard  which  were  traceable 
to  the  Blackbird,  unless  on  one  other  morn- 
ing a  **  chuck"  which  was  heard  proceeded 
from  it  while  I  was  near,  and  not  from  a 
possible  hermit  thrush  which  was  not  seen. 
Usually  when  seen  it  was  not  seeking 
food  actively.  But  several  times  I  have 
seen  the  bird  pull  an  angle-worm  from  the 
grass  and  eat  it,  running  like  a  robin  a  few 
feet  upon  the  turf,  and  after  a  pause,  in 
which  he  was  plainly  giving  attention  to  his 
object,  seizing  the  worm  and  preparing  it  for 
comfortable  use  by  dividing  it.  If  a  house 
sparrow  intruded  at  such  a  time,  the  Black- 
bird had  only  to  strike  out  for  it  and  the 
sparrow  retired.  On  December  5  it  was 
enjoying  such  a  feast  under  a  large  purple 
beech  which  stands  just  within  the  Garden 
at  the  head  of  Marlborough  Street.  The 
ground  was  without  frost.  On  December  9, 


224    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC  GARDEN 

II,  12,  and  15  it  was  seen  in  the  Garden  by 
several  different  observers,  who  mentioned 
the  fact  to  me. 

Later  the  bird  appeared  to  spend  most 
of  the  time  in  Commonwealth  Avenue,  as 
it  was  frequently  seen  near  the  head  of  the 
avenue  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Whi taker  of  Cam- 
bridge between  December  22  and  January 
26,  1909,  at  about  8.30  in  the  morning. 
Miss  E.  D.  Boardman  informs  me  that  she 
saw  the  bird  on  January  28  at  the  head  of 
the  avenue  in  a  shrub  in  the  Sears  garden- 
border  and  in  the  vine  climbing  upon  the 
house.  Mrs.  Arthur  T.  Cabot,  having  gath- 
ered such  accurate  data  as  she  was  able 
concerning  the  wintering  of  this  Blackbird, 
very  kindly  puts  the  information  at  my  dis- 
posal. Mrs.  Cabot  writes  me  under  date  of 
February  21:  "The  European  Blackbird 
was  last  seen  by  a  member  of  my  family  on 
Friday,  February  19th,  in  the  grass-plot  of 
the  house  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Berke- 
ley Street  and  Commonwealth  Avenue.  The 
people  in  that  house  and  in  the  house  on 
the  northwest  corner  put  out  crumbs  for 


EUROPEAN   BLACKBIRD  225 

him,  which  he  is  said  to  eat.  Suet,  which 
was  tied  in  shrubs  in  the  vicinity,  has  ap- 
parently not  been  touched.  Personally  I 
have  never  seen  him  feeding  on  anything 
put  out  for  him,  but  scratching  or  hunting 
about  in  the  manure  spread  on  the  grass." 
Mrs.  Cabot  also  states  that  she  has  seen 
him  on  Beacon  Street  near  the  PubHc  Gar- 
den and  has  never  heard  of  his  being  seen 
farther  west  than  Berkeley  Street. 

This  Blackbird  was  again  seen  by  Mr. 
E.  E.  Caduc  and  me  in  the  late  afternoon 
of  February  20  in  one  of  the  trees  at  the 
head  of  Commonwealth  Avenue,  having 
flown  from  the  direction  of  the  Garden. 
He  placed  himself  snugly  out  of  the  wind  in 
the  main  crotch  of  the  tree  but  little  above 
the  level  of  our  heads.  I  had  seen  him  take 
a  similar  position  in  the  Garden  in  Decem- 
ber, in  the  first  crotch  of  a  purple  beech, 
so  narrow  in  width  between  the  ascending 
trunks  that  he  was  almost  concealed  from 
view,  and  would  not  have  been  detected 
there  had  I  not  seen  him  fly  to  the  position. 

Three  later  records  of  this  bird  have  been 


226    BIRDS    OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

kindly  contributed  to  me  by  the  respective 
observers.  Miss  Bertha  Langmaid  writes 
under  date  of  February  28:  ''You  may  be 
interested  to  know  that  at  four-thirty 
o'clock  this  afternoon  I  saw  and  heard  the 
European  Blackbird.  He  was  in  a  tree  in 
the  centre  of  Commonwealth  Avenue  about 
halfway  between  Berkeley  and  Arlington 
streets  and  was  giving  a  song  suggesting 
our  robin.  It  was  not  loud,  but  soft  and 
very  sweet,  yet  decided  enough  to  attract 
the  attention  of  others  beside  myself." 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Townsend  writes :  **  As  to 
the  European  Blackbird,  I  saw  him  on 
March  ist  fly  up  from  a  grass-plot  on 
Marlborough  Street  between  Clarendon 
and  Dartmouth  streets  and  alight  on  the 
vines  of  a  house.  I  hope  some  time  to  be 
awakened  by  his  song,  which  will  be  a 
pleasing  contrast  to  that  of  Passer  domesti- 
cus,''  This  record  indicates  that  the  bird 
was  making  use  of  a  wider  range  of  the 
Back  Bay  streets  than  had  been  supposed 
and  that  he  was  still  ranging  through  that 
district  when  March  opened. 


EUROPEAN   BLACKBIRD  227 

Mrs.  Edmund  Bridge  writes  me  that  she 
saw  this  Blackbird  singing  beautifully  on 
March  8  at  9.15  in  the  morning  in  a  maple 
tree  in  Commonwealth  Avenue  between 
Arlington  and  Berkeley  streets,  the  section 
of  the  avenue  which  he  has  most  frequented. 
Mrs.  Bridge  states  that  the  bird  was  perch- 
ing in  the  curve  of  one  limb  partly  covered 
by  another  and  that  the  singing  might  be 
likened  to  the  mockingbird's  song. 

Ten  days  later,  on  March  18,  this  Black- 
bird was  found  by  me  to  be  again  within  the 
Garden.  The  water  of  the  pond  had  just 
been  drawn  off  for  the  annual  cleaning  out 
of  litter,  leaving  the  bottom  exposed,  and 
here  the  Blackbird  was  busily  feeding,  ac- 
companied by  one  of  two  early-arrived 
robins.  He  moved  freely  about  over  a  por- 
tion of  the  surface,  and  his  motions  indi- 
cated that  he  found  it  good  feeding-ground, 
for  he  was  constantly  picking  up  and  swal- 
lowing bits  of  food  which  the  draining  off  of 
the  water  had  brought  to  view.  What  these 
bits  were  I  could  not  discern.  The  following 
morning  he  was  again  seen  and  was  simi- 


228    BIRDS   OF   THE   PUBLIC   GARDEN 

larly  occupied,  and  so  each  succeeding 
morning  up  to  March  25,  when  his  record 
for  this  volume  was  necessarily  closed.  On 
three  of  these  mornings,  March  20,  24,  and 
25,  at  about  seven  o'clock,  he  sang  a  few 
phrases  of  song  in  mellow,  rich  tones,  which 
were  thrushlike  in  quality  and  suggested  at 
times,  now  the  bluebird's  song  and  again  the 
wood  thrush's,  but  sang  softly,  not  allowing 
his  voice  free  scope,  and  each  time  he  all 
too  quickly  dropped  to  the  ground  again  to 
feed,  and  the  brief  singing  was  ended.  On 
all  of  these  mornings  the  temperature  was 
near,  or  several  degrees  below,  the  freezing 
point  and  the  surface  was  hard  frozen. 
These  conditions  probably  did  not  move 
him  to  sing  freely,  and  so  for  hearing  the 
full  power  and  beauty  of  his  voice  we  must 
doubtless  await  higher  temperatures  and 
more  springlike  conditions.  The  eight  days 
of  continuous  stay,  following  his  return  to 
the  Garden,  indicates  that  this  foreign 
visitor,  after  three  months'  winter  residence 
in  Commonwealth  Avenue,  has  once  more 
established  himself  in  the  Public  Garden 


EUROPEAN   BLACKBIRD  229 

amid  favorable  conditions  with  a  full,  long 
season  before  him  in  which  to  enjoy  him- 
self and  furnish  interest  and  enjoyment  to 
the  Boston  public. 


INDEX 


Note.  — The  heavy-faced  type  indicates  the  place  where  the  species  is 
treated  at  length. 


Acanthis  linaria,  1 00. 

Accipiter  velox,  62. 

Actitis  macularia,  61. 

Agelaius  phoeniceus,  89. 

Albinism,  215. 

Allen,  Francis  H.,  x,  62,,  65,  69, 

71,  98,  139,  185. 
Allen,  Glover  M.,  x,  xi,  74,  87, 

100. 
Anthus  rubescens,  i8l. 
Arlington  Street,  7,  50,  73,  163, 

169,  170,  173,  202,  221,  226, 

227. 
Arlington  Street  Church,  152, 

163,  169. 
Asiragalinus  tristis,  lOI. 
Attachment  to  location,  49-51, 

149,  163,  170,  203. 
Aviary,  6,  27. 

Back  Bay  district,  5,  62,  67,  75, 

76,  226. 
Bath,  113,  150,  215,  222. 
Beacon  Hill,  75. 
Beacon  Street,  4,  7,  59,  65,  74, 

83.  '^33y  170.  191.  202,  221, 

225. 
Beech,  European,  148, 177, 193, 

200. 
Beech,  purple,  95,  223,  225. 
Beeches,  8,  112,  170,  173,  196. 
Berkeley  Street,  224-227. 


Birches,  8. 

Blackbird,  Crow,  93. 
Blackbird,  European,  219. 
Blackbird,  Red-winged,  33,  34, 

89,  96. 
Blackbird,  Rusty,  92. 
Black-cap,  Wilson's,  177. 
Blake,  Maurice  C,  xi,  92,  112, 

120,  139,  161,  172,  188,  198. 
Bluebird,  19,  23,  T)^,  96,  209, 

228. 
Boardman,  Miss  E.  D.,  224. 
Bobolink,  2,?,,  34,  85. 
Bob- white,  62. 
Bombycilla  cedrorum,  138. 
Botanic  Garden,  3. 
Boylston  Street,  7,  8,  152,  160. 
Bradlee,  Thomas  S.,  176. 
Branta  canadensis,  58. 
Brewster,  William,  x,  xi,  21-23, 

67,  83,  99,  212. 
Bridge,  Mrs.  Edmund  E.,  227. 
Brimmer  Street,  84. 
Butcher-bird,  139. 
Buteo  platypterus,  63. 
Buteos,  63. 

Cabot,  Mrs.  Arthur  T.,  224, 

225. 
Caduc,  Eugene  E.,  x,  66,  69, 74, 

75,  78,  82,  85,  141,  189,  225. 
Cage-birds,  54,  216,  219. 


232 


INDEX 


Carduelis  carduelis,  2 1 6. 

Carpodacus  purpureus,  99. 

Catbird,  13,  23,  28-30,  32,  33, 
35,  38,  39.  63,  181,  183. 

Cats,  10. 

Cedar-bird,  1 38. 

Census,  13,  14,  17,  40- 

Certhia  familiar  is  americana, 
186. 

Ceryle  alcyon,  69. 

Chadbourne,  Dr.  Arthur  P.,  67. 

ChcBtura  pelagica,  76. 

Chapman,  Frank  M.,  146. 

Charles  River,  44,  58. 

Charles  River  Basin,  57,  58. 

Charles  Street,  4,  7,  59,  65,  84, 
141. 

Chat,  Yellow-breasted,  13,  28, 
29,  32,  38,  159,  175. 

Chebec,  81. 

Chestnut  Street,  37. 

Chewink,  131. 

Chickadee,  15,  189,  190,  191. 

Chippy,  114, 

Chordeiles  virginianus,  75. 

City  Hall,  87,  88. 

Clangula  clangula  americana, 
58. 

Clarendon  Street,  70,  226. 

Coccyzus  americanus,  67. 

Coccyzus  erythrophthalmus,  68. 

Coffee- tree,  Kentucky,  52. 

Colaptes  auratus  luteus,  73. 

Colinus  virginianus,  62. 

Common,  Boston,  5,  7,  11,  20, 
23,  24,  36,  37,  44,  46,  53,  65, 
66,  70,  7i»  73-75.  78,  79.  84, 
85,  87,  91,  93,  94,  104-107, 
no,  113,  115-119,  121,  122, 
126,  130,  132,  139-141,  147, 


149,  155,  156,  158,  165,  167, 

169,  175,  178,  180,  186,  188, 

191,  196,  201,  202,  206,  210- 

212,  215,  218,  219. 
Commonwealth     Avenue,     62, 

64,  67,  189,  224-228. 
Compsothlypis    americana    us- 

nea,  148. 
Continuance  of  stay,  6,  19,  26, 

32,  36,  49-51- 
Corvus  brachyrhynchos,  83, 
Cowbird,  86. 

Creeper,  Black  and  White,  143, 
Creeper,  Brown,  13,  186,  188, 

189. 
Creeper,  Pine,  166. 
Crossbill,  White- winged,  1 00. 
Crow,  American,  83. 
Cuckoo,  Black-billed,  68. 
Cuckoo,  Yellow-billed,  35,  67^ 
Cyanociita  cristata,  82. 

Dartmouth  Street,  226. 
Day,  Chester  S.,  74. 
Dendroica  cestiva,  1 53. 
Dendroica  blackburnice,  162. 
Dendroica  ccerulescens,  154. 
Dendroica  castanea,  158. 
Dendroica  coronata,  I55« 
Dendroica  discolor,  168. 
Dendroica  magnolia,  156. 
Dendroica  palmarum,  166. 
Dendroica  palmarum  hypochry- 

sea,  167. 
Dendroica  pensylvanica,  1 57. 
Dendroica  striata,  159. 
Dendroica  tigrina,  149. 
Dendroica  vigorsii,  166. 
Dendroica  virens,  164. 
Dolichonyx  oryzivorus,  85. 


INDEX 


233 


Dryobates  pubescens  medianus, 

71- 

Dryobates  villosus,  70. 
Dumetella  carolinensis,  181. 

Elm,  American,  7,  8,  63,  65, 
90,  91,  130,  133,  152,  163, 
191. 

Elm,  Dutch,  8. 

Elm,  English,  7,  8,  147,  163, 
168. 

Emerson,  Guy,  xi. 

Empidonax  flaviventris,  80. 

Empidonax  minimus,  81. 

Euphagus  carolinus,  92. 

Falco  sparverius,  64. 

Falcons,  63. 

Female  birds,  48. 

Fens,  64,  85,  89,  90,  140. 

Finch,  Grass,  103. 

Finch,  Java,  218. 

Finch,  Pine,  102. 

Finch,  Purple,  30,  33,  35,  37, 

63,  99,  124,  218. 
Flicker,  Northern,  24,  32,  s^, 

47.  73- 

Flycatcher,  Least,  22, 24, 28, 31, 

33.  35.  37,  39.  81. 
Flycatcher,  Yellow-bellied,  39, 
80. 

Flycatchers,  82,   152,  194. 
Foreign  species,  54,  218,  219. 
Frog  Pond,  7,  67,  70. 

George,  Miss  Isabel  P.,  x,  145, 

195- 
Geothlypis  trichas,  1 74. 
Gilbert,  R.  A.,  67. 
Gingko  tree,  64. 


Glaux  acadicus,  6$. 

Gnat  catcher.  Blue-gray,  193.' 

Golden-eye,  American,  53,  58- 

Goldfinch,  American,  39,  loi. 

Goldfinch,  European,  2 1 6. 

Goose,  Canada,  58. 

Goshawk,  63. 

Grackle,  Bronzed,  24,  25,  47, 

48,  63,  93,  98,  120,  121,  198, 

205,  206,  213. 
Grackle,  Purple,  96. 
Granary  Burying-Ground,  53, 

69,  99,  185. 
Gray,  Horace,  3,  4. 
Grosbeak,  Pine,  98. 
Grosbeak,    Rose-breasted,    31, 

32,  37,  132. 
Gull,  Herring,  57. 

Hangbird,  90. 
Hardy,  John  H.,  Jr.,  x,  65. 
Hawk,  American  Sparrow,  64. 
Hawk,  Broad- winged,  63. 
Hawk,  Sharp-shinned,  62. 
Hawthorn,    English,    94,    178, 

184,  221,  222. 
Helminihophila       chrysoptera, 

146. 
Helminihophila  peregrina,  147. 
Helminihophila       rubricapilla, 

146. 
Helodromas  soliiarius,  60. 
Heron,   Black-crowned   Night, 

59- 

Hirundo  eryihrogaster,  136. 
Horticulture  of  Boston,  3. 
Hummingbird,  Ruby-throated, 

39.  77- 
Hunt,  David,  Jr.,  58. 
Hylocichla  alicice,  197- 


234 


INDEX 


Hylocichla  alicia  hicknelli,  198. 
Hylocichla  fuscescens,  IQS- 
Hylocichla  guttata  pallasii,  200. 
Hylocichla  mustelina,  194. 
Hylocichla  usiulata  swainsoni, 
199. 

Icteria  virens,  1 75. 
Icterus  galbula,  90. 
Introduced  species,  52,  54,  212, 

217. 
Iridoprocne  hicolor,  1 36. 
Island,  73,  113,  134,  166,  216. 

Jay,  Blue,  33-35,  63,  82. 
Joy  Street  path,  66,  74. 
J  unco  hyemalis,  118. 
Junco,  Slate-colored,  47,  1 18, 
127. 

King's        Chapel        Burying- 

Ground,  87. 
Kingbird,  22,  31,  35,  78. 
Kingfisher,  Belted,  53,  69. 
Kinglet,  Golden-crowned,  189, 

191,  193. 

Kinglet,     Ruby-crowned,     13, 

192,  193- 

Lamps,  city,  18,  19,  114. 
Langmaid,  Miss  Bertha,  226, 
Lanius  borealis,  1 39. 
Lanivireo  flavifrons,  142. 
Lanivireo  solitarius,  1 43. 
Larus  argentatus,  57- 
Lincoln,  Frederic  Walker,  Jr., 

5- 
Linden,  European,  8,  66. 
Louisburg  Square,  37,  84,  130. 
Loxia  leucoptera,  100. 


Male  birds,  48,  49,  51. 
Maple,  Norway,  219,  221. 
Maple,  Silver,  50,  163. 
Maple,  Sycamore,  161,    173, 

194. 
Maples,  7,  8,  69,  163. 
Marlborough    Street,    67,    70, 

223,  226. 
Melospiza  georgiana,  124. 
Melospiza  lincolnii,  1 23. 
Melospiza  melodia,  120. 
Migration,  6,  12,  14-21,  25-27, 

27.  29,  33,  35,  36,  38,  40,  42, 

43,  45,  48. 
Migratory  flights,  large,  25,  27- 

34,  36,  38-40,  45,  46. 
Mniotilta  varia,  1 43. 
Mockingbird's  song,  227. 
Molothrus  ater,  86. 
Monument  Hill,  7,  37,  75,  104, 

105,  116,  188,  210,  218. 
Morning,  early,  15-17,  59. 
Mt.  Vernon  Street,  37. 
Munia  oryzivora,  218. 
Myiochanes  virens,  *jg. 

N annus  hiemalis,  l85' 

Nesting,  20,  23-25,  73,  74, 
76,  83,  91,  92,  94,  96,  122, 
141,  142,  153,  180,  205,  207, 
210. 

Newbury  Street,  168,  215. 

Night  Heron,    Black-crowned, 

59- 

Nighthawk,  39,  75. 
Nuthatch,  Red-breasted^  188. 
Nuthatch,        White  -  breasted, 

188. 
Nycticorax  nycticorax  nesvius, 

59. 


INDEX 


235 


Oporornis  agilis,  173. 
Oriole,  Baltimore,  24,  25,  90, 

134,  205. 
Otus  asio,  66. 
Oven-bird,  13,  23,  28,  30,  31, 

33^  34,  38,  39.  SO.  168,  171, 

172. 
Owl,  Acadian,  65. 
Owl,  Barred,  53,  6^,  65. 
Owl,  Saw-whet,  53,  65. 
Owl,  Screech,  66. 

Parade-ground,  104,  218. 
Park  Square,  210. 
Park  Street  station,  53. 
Passer  domes ticus,  212,  226. 
Passerculus  sandwichensis  sa- 
vanna, 104. 
Passerella  iliaca,  126. 
Peabody-bird,  no. 
Peach     tree,    double-flowered, 

151- 
Penthestes  atricapillus,  190. 
Petrochelidon  lunijrons,  135. 
Pewee,  Wood,  28,  31,  35,  39^ 

79- 

Philohela  minor,  59- 
Phoebe,  22,  78,  166. 
Pigeons,  52. 
Pinckney  Street,  204. 
Pinicola  enucleator  leucura,  98. 
Pipilo  eryihrophthalmus,   13 1. 
Pipit,  American,  181. 
Piranga  erythromelas,  133. 
Planes  ticus  merula,  219. 
Planesiicus  migratorius,  205- 
Polioptila  ceerulea,  193. 
Pond,  9. 

Pooeceles  gramineus,  103. 
Poplar,  White,  8,  160. 


Potter,  F.  B.,  67,  189. 
Protonotaria  citrea,  14$. 
Purdie,  H.  A.,  xi,  83. 
Puritan  Glub,  84. 

Quiscalus  guiscula  ceneus,  93. 

Rainy  weather,  12,  26-28,  35. 
Rand,  Dr.  Manning  K.,  x,  73, 

74,  145- 
Redpoll,  100. 
Redstart,  American,  23,  24,  28, 

29.  32,  33^  35,  38,  39.  180. 
Regulus  calendula,  192. 
Regulus  satrapa,  191. 
Rhododendrons,  98,  129,  148, 

182. 
Riparia  riparia,  137- 
Robin,  American,   19,  24,  25, 

47,  48,  98,  120,  121,  128,  166, 

205,  219,  221,  223,  226,  227. 

Sandpiper,  Solitary,  19,  60. 
Sandpiper,  Spotted,  19,  61. 
Sapsucker,  Yellow-bellied,  *J2. 
Sayornis  phcebe,  78. 
Season,  opening  of,  47. 
Seasons,    comparison    of,    41- 

45. 
Seiurus  aurocapillus,  168. 
Seiurus  noveboracensis,  l*Jl. 
Seiophaga  ruticilla,  180. 
Shrike,  Northern,  139. 
Shrubs,  9. 
Sialia  sialis,  209. 
Siskin,  Pine,  37,  102. 
Sitta  canadensis,  188. 
Sitta  carolinensis,  188. 
Snow,  48,   95,  114,    120,    128, 

221. 


236 


INDEX 


Snowbird,  1 18. 
Somerset  Club,  83. 
Song,  16,  45,  51,  52. 
Spalding,  F.  P.,  xi,  87,  88. 
Sparrow,     Chipping,     22,     37, 

114,  161. 
Sparrow,    English,    140,    212, 

218. 
Sparrow,  Field,  31,  S3>  I16. 
Sparrow,   Fox,   87,   119,    126, 

206,  215,  220. 
Sparrow,  Ground,  120. 
Sparrow,  House,  10,  16,  87,  88, 

91,  109,  113,  140,  212,  218, 

223,  226. 
Sparrow,  Java,  2 18. 
Sparrow,  Lincoln's,  13,  28-30, 

35.  37,  123- 
Sparrow,  Savanna,  20,  33,  1 04. 
Sparrow,  Song,  20,  30,  47,  48, 

87,  120,  124,  127,  206. 
Sparrow,  Swamp,  20,  28-31,  33, 

37,  87,  124,  166. 
Sparrow,  Tree,  113. 
Sparrow,  Vesper,  22,  87,  103, 

105. 
Sparrow,    White-crowned,    31, 

37.  107,  215. 
Sparrow,    White- throated,    13, 

28,  30-33,  35.  37,  no,  215. 
Sparrows,  20,  21,  34,  37,  39,  82, 

104,  130. 
Sphyraptcus  varius,  72. 
Spinus  pinus,  I02. 
Spizella  monticola,  II3. 
Spizella  passerina,  114. 
Spizella  pusilla,  116, 
Spring,  awakening  of,  121. 
Spruce  Street,  66,  84. 
State  House,  5. 


Strix  varia,  65. 

Summer  residents,  20-25,   5^, 

74,  76,  83,  90,  93,  97,  130, 

141,  205. 
Swallow,  Bank,  31,  137. 
Swallow,    Barn,    28,    31,    135, 

136,  137' 
Swallow,  Cliff,  31,  135,  137. 
Swallow,  Eave,  135. 
Swallow,  Tree,  136,  137. 
Swallow,  White-bellied,  136. 
Swallows,  135,  137. 
Swan,  European,  52,  216. 
Swift,  Chimney,  28-33,  35,  76. 

Tanager,  Scarlet,  23,   28,  29, 

31,  32,  35,  39,  133,  159- 
Thistle-bird,  loi. 
Thrasher,  Brown,   13,   23,   30, 

33^  35,  38,  50,  183,  220. 
Thrush,  Alice's,  197. 
Thrush,  Bicknell's,  197,  198. 
Thrush,  Golden- crowned,  168. 
Thrush,  Gray-cheeked,  28,  29, 

39,  197- 
Thrush,  Hermit,  21,  33,  34,  38, 

47,   50,  87,   166,  195,   200, 

220,  221,  223. 
Thrush,  Olive-backed,  13,  28, 

3^-33>  35,  38,  39,  198,  199- 
Thrush,  Swainson's,  1 99. 
Thrush,   Wilson's,   28,   30-33, 

35,  38,  39,  195- 
Thrush,  Wood,   ^s,   34,    194, 

223,  228. 
Thrushes,  12,  21,  195,  197,  200, 

228. 
Titlark,  i8l. 
Torrey,  Bradford,  x-xii,  11,  24, 

44,  59,  60,  65,  69,  86,  93. 


INDEX 


237 


Towhee,  13,  22,  30,  33,  35,  37, 

131- 

Townsend,  Dr.  Charles  W., 
X,  xi,  60,  62,  70,  97,  114,  139, 
176,  183,  198,  201,  209,  226. 

Townsend,  Mrs.  C.  W.,  96. 

Toxostoma  rujum,  183. 

Trees,  7,-9,  44. 

Tremont  Street  mall,  65. 

Trochilus  colubris,  *]*]. 

Troglodytes  aedon,  185. 

Tyrannus  tyrannus,  78. 

Union  Club,  67. 

Veery,  195. 

Vireo,    Blue-headed,    31,    35, 

143 

Vireo,  Red-eyed,  23,  24,  28,  31, 

35,  39,  140,  141. 
Vireo,  Solitary,  143. 
Vireo,  Warbling,  23,  24,  28,  29, 

32,  141,  142. 
Vireo,      Yellow- throated,      31, 

142. 
Vireosylva  gilva,  142. 
Vireosylva  olivacea,  140. 

Warbler,      Bay-breasted,       29, 

158 
Warbler,  Black  and  White,  23, 

28,  30,  31,  33,  34,  37.  143- 
Warbler,    Black    and    Yellow, 

156. 
Warbler,  Blackburnian,  28,  29, 

32,  34,  38.  39.  50.  159.  160, 

162. 
Warbler,  Black-poll,  28-32,  34, 

39,  159,  163,  173,  194. 
Warbler,  Black-throated  Blue, 


28,   29,   31,   32,   34,   37,   39, 

154.  163. 

Warbler,  Black- throated  Green, 

23.  30.  31.  33.  34,  39.  163, 

164. 
Warbler,  Blue  Yellow-backed, 

148. 
Warbler,  Canadian,  28-30,  32, 

SS,  39,  164,  179. 
Warbler,   Cape    May,   49,    50, 

149. 
Warbler,    Chestnut-sided,    23, 

28,  29,  31-34,  39,  157.  163. 
Warbler,     Connecticut,     173, 

175- 
Warbler,    Golden-winged,    28, 

146. 
Warbler,  Magnolia,  28-34,  37, 

39,  156,  163. 
Warbler,  Myrtle,  30-34,  37,  39, 

155,  156. 

Warbler,  Nashville,  23,  30,  31, 

33,  34,  146. 
Warbler,  Palm,  166. 
Warbler,  Parula,  28-34,  37,  39, 

148,  175- 
Warbler,  Pine,  166. 
Warbler,  Prairie,  29,  168. 
Warbler,  Prothonotary,  145. 
Warbler,  Redpoll,  166. 
Warbler,    Tennessee,    31,    39, 

147- 

Warbler,  Wilson's,   28-30,  32, 

33,  35,  38,  39,  177,  179- 
Warbler,  Yellow,  23,  28,  29,  31- 

34,  37,  39,  153- 
Warbler,    Yellow    Palm,    166, 

167. 
Warbler,  Yellow  Redpoll,  167. 
Warbler,  Yellow-rumped,  155. 


238 


INDEX 


Warblers,  lo,  12,  20,  21,  28-34, 

36-40,  44,  48,  63,  82,   146, 

159,  163,  164,  175,  176,  180, 

214. 
Water-thrush,     Northern,     13, 

28-31,  33,  34,  38,  39,  171- 
Waxwing,  Cedar,  19,  138. 
Weather,  12,  13,  25-28,  32,  35, 

37,  39,  42,  48. 
Wellman,  Gordon  Boit,  xii. 
Whitaker,  J.  M.,  224. 
White  Mountains,  11,  200,  204. 
Whitney,  Miss  Calista  S.,  145. 
Wilder,  Marshall  Pinckney,  3. 
Willow,  old,  152,  163. 
Willow,  White,  68,  151. 
Willows,  8,   73,  92,   145,   152, 

159,  160,  163. 
Wilsonia  canadensis,  179. 
Wilsonia  pusilla,  1 77. 
Winsor,  Justin,  xi. 
Winter  residents,  15,  57,  58,  64, 

87,  100,  190,  224. 
Winter  Street  path,  66 


Winter  visitants,  16,  66,  67,  71, 

74.  75.  98-101,  114,  140,  183, 

189,  209. 
Woodcock,  American,  53,  59. 
Woodpecker,  Downy,  71,     72, 

161. 
Woodpecker,     Golden-winged, 

73 
Woodpecker,  Hairy,  70,  188. 
Woodpecker,    Yellow-bellied, 

72. 
Woodpeckers,  25. 
Wren,  House,  33,  34,  185. 
Wren,  Winter,  53,  185. 
Wright,  Miss  Mary  A.,  195. 

Yellow-bird,  Summer,  1 53. 
Yellow-hammer,  73. 
Yellow-throat,    Maryland,    23, 
28-30,  32,  ss,  35,  38,  39,  174. 

Zamelodia  ludoviciana,  132. 
Zonoirkhia  albicollis,  no. 
Zonotrichialeucophrys,  107. 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .    S    .    A 


DATE  DUE 

^ 

1 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

341065 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


3  9031   01766783  3 


,mm8  Wright,  Horace  Winslow, 

Q  U   <^^f 

Bapst  Library 

Boston  College 

Chestnut  Hill  67,  Mass. 


